Taiwan's stock market fell hard, dropping below the 45,000 mark, as foreign money kept heading for the exit — bad news for local investors, though chipmaker TSMC is still holding the index up.

• A sharp drop in US chip stocks spread through Asia, hitting South Korea so hard that trading was briefly halted.
• Foreign and mainland investors sold heavily for a second straight day, with local funds and dealers selling too.
• Display maker Innolux and chipmaker Powerchip took the biggest hits from foreign selling; shipping firm Yang Ming and Taiwan Mobile were bought.
• The selling is being read as investors cutting borrowed money out of their positions, not an AI bubble popping.
• Money flowing into actively managed Taiwan stock funds is pushing managers into smaller companies, making individual share prices swing much harder than the index.

Outlook: The 40,000 level is seen as the floor, with TSMC limiting how far the index can fall, but expect big gaps between winning and losing stocks.