Amid a downturn in all four major U.S. stock indices, Taiwan stocks opened today (22nd) at 18990.86 points. The index opened lower and continued to drop, down 115.34 points at its lowest, reaching 18880.30 points. TSMC (2330) opened at 826 TWD, falling by 9 TWD, and continued to decline. Within five minutes of the opening, both the overall index and major weighted stocks saw declines around 1%.

U.S. President Trump’s tariff war has caused global market fluctuations. On April 17 and 21, he publicly criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for not agreeing to an immediate rate cut, even suggesting he might want to hire Powell. This created panic in the U.S. investment community, and on Monday (22nd Taiwan time), U.S. stocks saw significant losses, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging by almost 1000 points. All four major U.S. indices declined, with the Dow falling 2.48%, the Nasdaq down 2.55%, the S&P 500 dropping 2.36%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor index decreased by 2.1%, affecting the opening of Taiwanese stocks today. In contrast, safe-haven gold surged past 3400 USD per ounce on Monday, reaching a new historical high.