Taiwan Stock "Short-Selling Curb" Has No Set End Date Yet
Taiwan's financial regulator rolled out emergency measures to stop a stock sell-off last week, and it says it won't lift them until conditions improve — good news for Taiwan investors in the short term, but uncertain how long the support lasts.
- Taiwan's market regulator put in place five measures starting November 9 to prop up stocks after a sharp drop, including limits on short-selling and encouraging companies to buy back their own shares.
- Short-selling activity has dropped sharply since the rules took effect, and Taiwan's stock index has outperformed Japan, South Korea, and even the US Nasdaq and semiconductor stocks over the same days.
- Regulators say there's no fixed end date for the curbs — they'll keep watching global markets and the local economy and decide case by case, similar to how past rescue measures were handled.
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is under pressure from a personal scandal and a national security controversy, with prediction markets putting the odds he's forced out by year-end as high as 88%, raising questions about who might replace him and rattling related stocks.
- Major Taiwan tech earnings were mostly strong: Foxconn posted record quarterly profit on booming AI server demand, and Taiwan Mobile and Pegatron also beat expectations, though Taiwan's stock index still fell sharply in afternoon trading on profit-taking.
Outlook: Taiwan's short-selling restrictions will likely stay in place for now, with regulators reviewing conditions on an ongoing basis rather than a fixed schedule, while Nvidia leadership uncertainty remains a wildcard for global tech stocks.