Fed Holds as Foreign Investors Pull NT$68.8 Billion from Taiwan Stocks

Thursday, October 29, 2026 Data: US close Oct 28 · Taiwan close Oct 29

The Takeaway

Oil up, foreign money out

The Fed kept rates at 3.75%–4.00%, but two officials voted for a hike and futures now price roughly an 85% chance of a December increase. Crude is back above $100. US indexes edged higher on a narrow rally in AI chips. Taiwan's TAIEX jumped 939 points on SK Hynix's results, then gave back 667 points a day later as foreign investors sold a net NT$68.8 billion. Net selling by Taiwan's three major institutional groups has topped NT$1 trillion so far in October. With earnings season in full swing and US midterms next Tuesday, expect a choppier couple of weeks in both markets.

Key Numbers

United States Close, Oct 28

Market	Close	Change	Note
S&P 500	7,743.98 pts	+0.28%	Third straight gain, about 1% below its early-October high. The equal-weight S&P 500 slipped 0.04%, so the advance rests on a handful of megacap tech names.
Nasdaq Composite	26,549.85 pts	+0.27%	Still nearly 4% below its early-October high. After the bell, Microsoft rose on a beat while Alphabet fell about 10% on a miss, which could weigh on today's open.
Dow Jones Industrials	52,475.10 pts	+0.19%	The 30-stock blue-chip index dipped intraday as JPMorgan slid, then edged higher into the close. It was the weakest of the three major indexes.
PHLX Semiconductor	11,684.00 pts	+1.75%	The day's best-performing index. SK Hynix's record quarter lifted Micron 5.9%. The SOX is a key overnight signal for TSMC and other Taiwan chip stocks.
VIX	16.91 pts	−3.48%	Measures expected stock-market volatility over the next 30 days. It eased once the Fed decision removed some uncertainty; readings below 20 point to a fairly calm market.
10-Year Treasury	5.04%	+5 bp	Biggest one-day rise since late September. A hawkish Fed and bets on a December hike pushed yields up and weighed on rate-sensitive sectors such as real estate and utilities.
WTI Crude	US$102.78/bbl	+2.88%	Back above $100, with Brent near US$115. Houthi attacks on a Saudi refinery and fears of renewed US strikes on Iran drove the gain. Higher oil makes inflation harder to tame.
Gold (Dec)	US$4,051.60/oz	−0.53%	Gold pays no interest, so rising yields raise the cost of holding it, and prices slipped.

Taiwan Close, Oct 29

Market	Close	Change	Note
TAIEX	46,368.33 pts	−667.25 pts (−1.42%)	Gave back about 70% of the previous day's 939-point rally. It fell as much as 980 points intraday, briefly broke below 46,000, and closed under its 5-day, 10-day and 60-day averages, a short-term technical warning sign. Electronics led the drop: the electronics sub-index fell 1.74% and optoelectronics 5.18%, while financials rose 1.05%. Decliners outnumbered gainers 737 to 232 among listed stocks, so the selling was broad.
TPEx (OTC) Index	387.37 pts	−7.24 pts (−1.83%)	Made up mostly of small and mid caps. It gave back nearly half of the previous day's 15.41-point gain and fell harder than the main board, so the selling was not limited to the heavyweights. It is now about 10% below its October high of 432.48 on Oct 5.
Yuanta Taiwan Top 50 ETF (0050)	NT$107.25	−NT$1.40 (−1.29%)	Taiwan's best-known ETF, tracking the 50 largest listed companies. Foreign investors sold a net 43,000 lots, the fifth-largest foreign net sale of any security that day, while investment trusts bought 3,300 lots. Volume rose to 87,000 lots from 54,000 the day before. It is about 8% below its October high of NT$116.50 on Oct 6 and back near its Oct 27 low of NT$106.60.
Turnover	NT$823.81B		Up about 10% from NT$750.34B the day before, plus NT$208.11B on the OTC market. Heavier volume on a down day, together with NT$68.8B of foreign net selling, shows the pressure came mainly from foreign investors. Some news reports after the close gave NT$789.15B, which differs from TWSE's statistics; this table uses TWSE's figure.
TSMC (2330)	NT$2,415	−NT$10 (−0.41%)	Taiwan's largest company by market value. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped 1.75% overnight, but TSMC did not follow it higher. Foreign investors barely traded it (net sale of just 10 lots) and investment trusts bought 443 lots, so it fell far less than the semiconductor sub-index (−1.24%). Volume of 18,000 lots was on the light side for October, a sign of no heavy selling. It is about 6.6% below its October high of NT$2,585 on Oct 6 and has traded between NT$2,385 and NT$2,440 for the past two weeks.
MediaTek (2454)	NT$4,045	−NT$190 (−4.49%)	Taiwan's top chip designer. It gave back about 70% of the previous day's NT$275 (+6.9%) jump, falling three times as much as the index. Foreign investors sold 1,682 lots, more than the 366 lots investment trusts bought. High-priced stocks were weak across the board: ASPEED fell NT$315, King Slide NT$270 and GUC about 6%. MediaTek is about 22% below its October high of NT$5,165 on Oct 5 and close to its Oct 27 low of NT$3,960.
Hon Hai / Foxconn (2317)	NT$248.00	−NT$3.50 (−1.39%)	The world's largest electronics contract manufacturer and a major AI server assembler. Foreign investors actually bought 3,342 lots and investment trusts 512 lots, so the drop followed the broad market rather than institutional selling. Volume of 21,000 lots was the lightest of October. It held up better than the computer and peripherals sub-index (−3.27%) and Quanta (about −3%). All month it has closed between NT$239.50 and NT$256, with no clear direction.
UMC (2303)	NT$115.50	−NT$12.50 (−9.77%)	Limit down on the first trading day after its Oct 28 earnings call. Foreign investors had been buying in the two days before the call, but turned to a net sale of 129,000 lots, the most of any stock; investment trusts also sold 45,000 lots, for a combined institutional net sale of 183,000 lots. Volume of 350,000 lots was the heaviest of October. The stock has slid from NT$161.50 on Oct 1, down about 28% this month.

Units: indexes in points; US prices in US dollars (US$); Taiwan prices and amounts in New Taiwan dollars (NT$).

Six Market Signals

TrendChoppy at highs

The S&P 500 is about 1% below its early-October high and the Nasdaq nearly 4%. Taiwan swung up 939 points and down 667 on consecutive days, closing below its 60-day average.

Fund flowsForeign selling

Foreign investors sold a net NT$68.8 billion of Taiwan stocks on Oct 29. Domestic investment trusts bought for a 13th straight day, one of the few steady buyers.

RatesHeadwind

The Fed's hold came with a hawkish tilt. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 5.04%, its biggest one-day gain since late September.

ConcentrationHigh

The equal-weight S&P 500 slipped while AI chips rallied. In Taiwan, electronics heavyweights led the drop as money rotated into financials and biotech.

GeopoliticsElevated

Tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz hit a wartime high in mid-October, briefly sending Brent to $110. Analysts flag the risk of renewed US strikes on Iran after the midterms.

InflationSticky

US September CPI rose 3.7% year over year, above forecasts. Higher oil makes inflation harder to cool and makes it harder for the Fed to stop hiking.

Taiwan in Focus

Institutional net buying and selling Oct 29

Investor group	Net	Note
Foreign investors	−NT$68.82B	Heavy selling in UMC, AUO and Innolux
Investment trusts	+NT$7.04B	13th straight day of net buying, since Oct 8
Proprietary dealers	−NT$21.50B	Almost all from hedging positions (−NT$21.32B); own-account trading was a net sale of just NT$0.18B
Total	−NT$83.27B	Per TWSE statistics. Some news reports after the close gave NT$81.67B (investment trusts NT$8.65B); this table uses TWSE's figures

Electronics heavyweights lead the drop; money rotates into financials and biotech

The TAIEX fell as much as 980 points intraday and briefly broke below 46,000 before closing down 667. MediaTek and Delta Electronics lost about 4%, Quanta about 3%, and Largan about 8%. High-priced names such as ASPEED and King Slide also slipped. First Financial rose about 3%, Chang Hwa Bank, Mega and Hua Nan gained about 1%, and PharmaEssentia also advanced as money moved into defensive sectors.

▲ Financials▲ Biotech▼ Chip design▼ AI servers▼ Display panels

Memory stocks rode SK Hynix's coattails the day before

Nanya Technology rose 8.16% and Winbond 5.52% on Oct 28 as the TAIEX climbed 939 points. Investors applied SK Hynix's view that memory demand will outrun supply through 2030 to Taiwanese peers. Memory remains one of the most cyclical corners of tech: makers add capacity when prices rise, and oversupply eventually turns the cycle.

▲ Memory

Foreign investors keep pulling money out in October

Reports put October's cumulative net selling by Taiwan's three major institutional groups above NT$1 trillion, with a weaker Taiwan dollar speeding the outflow. Foreign investors are among the largest holders of Taiwan stocks, and their flows move the index heavyweights, which makes them a number worth tracking every day.

US and Global News

The Fed holds, but two officials want a hike

The vote was 10–2, with Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack favoring a quarter-point increase. Chair Kevin Warsh declined to signal December's move, while the statement called growth "strong" and inflation "elevated." Futures put the odds of a December 9 hike near 85%.

▲ Banks▼ Real estate▼ Utilities▼ Richly valued growth

Big Tech splits: Microsoft up, Alphabet down

Microsoft posted $92.3 billion in revenue with Azure growing 48%, ahead of its own guidance, and rose after hours. Alphabet's Google Cloud revenue more than doubled, but Search growth slowed to 12% from 17%. It was the company's first miss on both revenue and earnings in nearly four years, and shares fell about 10% after hours.

▲ Cloud▲ AI infrastructure▼ Digital advertising

Memory boom: SK Hynix tops ₩100 trillion in quarterly revenue

Operating profit jumped 632% year over year. SK Hynix's US-listed shares rose 13% and Korea's KOSPI gained 6.6% in a day. Micron added 5.9%, and Vertiv surged 16.6% after orders more than doubled.

▲ Memory▲ Chip equipment▲ Data-center power & cooling

Middle East: oil back above $100, no progress on talks

Yemen's Houthis struck Aden airport a day after claiming a missile attack on Saudi Arabia's largest refinery. A senior Iranian official rejected Qatar's draft deal to end the war.

▲ Energy▲ Defense▼ Airlines▼ Consumer discretionary

▲▼ show the direction in which a story usually affects a sector, not a forecast of where prices will go.

The US–Taiwan Link: Cloud Capex Is Taiwan's Order Book

Microsoft spent $45.2 billion and Alphabet $51.4 billion on capex this quarter, mostly on AI servers and data centers. That money flows through foundry, server assembly, cooling and power supply, and Taiwanese companies sit at many of those steps. Capex lines in US earnings reports are among the best real-time gauges of demand for Taiwan's AI supply chain. The past two days showed the link in action: SK Hynix's strong quarter lifted Taiwan, and Alphabet's miss preceded the pullback.

What's Next US Eastern Time

Thu Oct 29, 8:30 AMUS Q3 GDP and September PCEGDP expected at 3.2%; PCE, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, expected at 3.6%

This weekAmazon earningsAnother read on cloud growth and AI spending after Microsoft and Alphabet

Tue Nov 3US midterm electionsCould shift fiscal policy and the path of military action against Iran

Fri Nov 6, 8:30 AMUS October jobs reportSeptember added only 29,000 jobs; another weak print would stoke recession fears

By Tue Nov 10Taiwan October sales reportsTaiwan-listed companies report monthly revenue by the 10th, one of the most timely reads on AI demand

Wed Dec 9, 2:00 PMFOMC decisionFutures imply about an 85% chance of a hike

Useful Links Official sources to check the data yourself

This brief summarizes publicly available market data and news for informational purposes only. It is not investment advice and does not recommend buying or selling any security. Companies are mentioned only to illustrate industry trends. Closing figures may differ slightly between data sources.

Sources Capp Notes — Closing Look, Oct 28, 2026 Stock Titan — Stock Market Today Live, Oct 28, 2026 Federal Reserve — FOMC statement, Oct 28, 2026 CNN — Fed keeps rates unchanged, two dissents Investing.com — Futures drop as Alphabet slides investingLive — US September CPI 3.7% CNBC — Brent touches $110 as Iran escalates Hormuz attacks Taipei Times — Tech stocks soar as SK Hynix adds to rising AI confidence Anue (cnyes) — Taiwan market close, Oct 29 TWSE — Institutional trading value statistics (Oct 29) TWSE — Institutional net buying by stock (Oct 29) TWSE — Daily trading for 0050, TSMC, MediaTek, Hon Hai and UMC TWSE — Daily close: sector indexes and turnover TPEx — OTC index and turnover Central News Agency — Institutional flows, Oct 29 United Daily News — Foreign investors net sell NT$68.8B Storm Media — Institutional flows, Oct 29 Anue (cnyes) — Historical prices for 0050, Hon Hai and UMC ETtoday — UMC hits limit down on foreign selling Gotrade — Week ahead: Fed, GDP and Big Tech earnings