Taiwan’s stock market dropped 344 points, or 3.73%, to 8,890 points on Monday.
The drop comes as the COVID-19 pandemic sends stocks plummeting worldwide. It also comes as Taiwan’s stock exchange adopts a new trading system that allows investors to trade stocks continuously. The new system went online Monday, replacing the five-second matched call auction system that had been in use since 2014. The Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation says the new system is in keeping with global trends. It also says the system will give traders more flexibility and enable trading to be more transparent.
Hua Nan Securities Management Chairman David Chu said Monday, “People of course are not used to the new system. Since US stocks have plummeted, people are not sure what is to come, so I think people are just watching to see what happens. In the past, when US stocks dropped drastically, the TAIEX would drop 4% to 5%, so today’s drop was not that bad.”
Meanwhile on Monday, Finance Minister Su Jain-rong spoke to lawmakers about the national stabilization fund, which has been given approval to intervene in the market if necessary. He said the fund will be put into use if panic selling begins or if instability in the market reaches the point that the law authorizes its deployment.
He also said that the Financial Supervisory Commission has measures in place to deal with any developments as investors adjust to the new stock trading system.