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Foreign Investors Dump Record NT$302.5 Billion in Taiwan Stocks as Active ETFs Face Heavy Selling
Electronic Technology · Semiconductors · economic_daily · 2026-10-15
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Taiwan stocks plummeted over 1,600 points on record foreign selling, with active ETFs and TSMC bearing the brunt of the market-wide sell-off.
What Happened
Historic Market Decline: The Taiwan stock market experienced a sharp downturn on the 15th, closing down 1,655.96 points at 46,969.87. Trading volume surged to NT$1.31 trillion, marking the highest level since late July as panic selling gripped the market.
Record Foreign Outflows: Foreign institutional investors offloaded a record-breaking NT$302.55 billion in a single day, contributing to a total institutional sell-off of NT$370 billion. While foreign investors exited aggressively, domestic investment trusts provided some support with a net buy of NT$28.3 billion.
ETF and Tech Sell-off: Active ETFs dominated the list of top foreign sell orders, indicating a significant shift in institutional strategy. Major semiconductor players like TSMC and UMC also faced heavy selling pressure, with TSMC seeing 34,111 shares offloaded by foreign entities.
Flight to Defensive Assets: Amid the volatility, foreign capital flowed into defensive sectors, favoring food and telecommunications stocks. Companies like Uni-President and Chunghwa Telecom appeared among the top buy orders, highlighting a tactical move toward stability during the market rout.