Taiwan's stock market closed lower for a fourth consecutive day, with funds beginning to flow out of Taiwan equity ETFs and into overseas assets — a bearish signal for local investors.

• The benchmark index fell another 351 points to close at 45,511, with the three major institutional investors posting combined net selling of nearly NT$80 billion, foreign investors being the main sellers.
• TSMC goes ex-dividend tomorrow, and that single stock alone will knock about 55 points off the index. Its share price bucked the trend to edge higher ahead of the ex-dividend date, helping steady the market.
• The number of beneficiaries of Taiwan's actively managed ETFs fell for the first time, down 165,000 in one month, while regular fixed-amount investment deductions also shrank markedly.
• At the same time, investors moved money into overseas equity and overseas bond ETFs, whose assets jumped 19% and 28% respectively.
• A major US AI company called on the industry to slow the pace of AI development, sending US stocks sharply lower and increasing short-term volatility in tech stocks. Financial stocks were relatively resilient, and high-dividend ETFs holding large positions in financial holding companies have delivered solid returns over the past month.

Outlook: With the US Federal Reserve and Taiwan's central bank both meeting this week and the market expecting a quarter-point rate hike, the US dollar is strengthening and the New Taiwan dollar continues to weaken. In the near term, Taiwan stocks are likely to see thin volume, a wait-and-see mood and sector rotation.