By Faith Hung and James Pomfret
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks plunged a record 8.4% on Monday, with tech stocks including TSMC sliding as investors spooked by a poor outlook for the U.S. economy sold off one of Asia's top performing markets.
It was the worst one-day decline for the main index in percentage terms. The market shed 1,807.21 points to close at 19,830.88, the lowest level since April 23, as a sell-off in tech spread more broadly.
"It is difficult to predict when the decline will stop. It's too early to tell," said David Wu, an analyst with Cathay Futures Consulting Department in Taipei.
Taiwan was one of several markets that tumbled on Monday amid fears the United States could be heading for recession and as investors sought refuge from risk assets.
In a bid to calm investors, the stock exchange chief said the bourse would work with regulators to maintain stability.
"Exactly when to implement stability measures depends on market conditions, and we're awaiting instructions from regulators," Taiwan Stock Exchange President Lih-Chung Chien told reporters after the market closed.
Shares in the dominant technology stock Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, took a battering. The stock had surged over the past year amid skyrocketing demand for chips used in artificial intelligence, but its price plunged 9.75%, near the daily limit of 10%, to close at T$815.
Some analysts said the fundamentals for TSMC had not changed even amid market talk that the firm's delivery of Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA)'s new GB 200 chips would be delayed.
Taiwan's three other major weighted tech stocks were also heavily sold. Mediatek was down 9 percent, while Quanta and Foxconn shed close to 10 percent, the daily allowable limit.
"We think the decline will continue into the next two days, seeking technical support levels of 19,200-19,300 points," Allen Huang, a vice president at Mega International Investment Services, told Reuters.
Of the nearly 1,900 listed companies on the main bourse and the smaller OTC exchange, nearly 800 had fallen by the maximum permissible amount, he said.
Earlier, Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo, said investors needed to brace for a possible market crash.
(This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of the economy minister's name to J.W. Kuo, in paragraph 12)