Taiwan's stock market suffered a historic crash this week, and the government's national stabilization fund has stepped in to try to calm things down — bad news for investors, but a sign officials are taking the panic seriously.

• Taiwan's main index lost over 6,000 points in just one week, falling below the 40,000 mark and briefly crashing nearly 3,800 points in a single morning before recovering slightly.
• The drop is tied to a global sell-off after the US midterm elections, with worries about new rules on AI data centers hitting tech and chip stocks hard across US and Asian markets.
• Foreign investors pulled a record amount of money out of Taiwan's market last month and kept selling heavily into November, which is seen as the main driver of the crash.
• Taiwan's national stabilization fund held an emergency meeting and authorized officials to step into the market at any time to buy and prop up prices.
• Chip giant TSMC alone saw huge foreign selling in a single day, while most AI-related and high-flying stocks hit their daily loss limits.

Outlook: With the stabilization fund now cleared to intervene at will, further sharp swings are likely in the short term, but officials insist Taiwan's underlying economy remains solid.