Taiwan's stock market faced pressure reopening after a holiday, but a rebound in US tech and chip stocks is easing fears of a sharp drop.

• Taiwan stocks dropped hard before the holiday and futures kept falling, raising fears of a rough reopening, but analysts now see the market holding up better than expected.
• South Korean chip stocks like SK Hynix and Samsung reversed early losses and closed higher, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped nearly 3% in the US, a good sign for Taiwan's tech-heavy market.
• Analysts still expect Taiwan's index to challenge 50,000 points this year, driven by continued strong AI demand from companies like Nvidia.
• Trump's renewed threats of military action against Iran may be more of a negotiating tactic, since high oil and gas prices would hurt his party ahead of the midterm elections.
• A partial ceasefire deal in Ukraine's Oleshky region, set to start this week, marks a small positive step but doesn't mean the war is ending.

Outlook: Markets will watch upcoming Fed decisions and big tech earnings reports this week, with memory chip shortages expected to persist into 2027 or 2028, keeping Taiwan's chip supply chain in high demand.