Not 0050 or 00878! Taiwan Stock Market Plunges 3,500 Points in Two Days, Yet 'One High-Dividend ETF' Rises Against the Trend, Claiming Top Spot for Resilience

The Taiwan stock market suffered consecutive heavy losses, continuing yesterday’s 'Black Tuesday' sell-off. Today (29), under pressure from plunging global semiconductor stocks, escalating geopolitical tensions, and interest rate uncertainty, the index briefly dipped below the 40,000-point mark. It closed down 1,564.18 points at 40,039.18, marking the seventh-largest point decline in history. Combined with yesterday’s (28) 2,030-point drop, the market lost over 3,500 points in just two trading days. Heavyweight stocks came under broad pressure, with TSMC leading the decline and electronics and AI-related stocks hit hardest, as market risk aversion surged.

Amid the sharp volatility, high-dividend ETFs with defensive characteristics emerged as safe havens. According to the latest data, among the top 10 most resilient Taiwan ETFs today, only the FT Taiwan Sustainable High Dividend ETF (00961) rose against the trend, closing up 0.08% at NT$12.59, claiming the top spot for resilience and demonstrating the robustness of high-dividend strategies during market corrections.

While the other ETFs on the list closed in negative territory, their declines were significantly milder than the broader market. For example, Taishin Sustainable High Dividend Mid-Caps (00936), Uni-President Taiwan High Dividend Momentum (00939), and CTBC Growth High Dividend (00934) all limited losses to under 1%. Fubon Taiwan Quality High Dividend (00730) and Dahua High-Yield High-Dividend 30 (00918) also showed strong resilience. Overall, the resilience leaderboard was almost entirely dominated by high-dividend ETFs, highlighting a clear shift of capital from growth stocks to income-generating assets amid rising market risks.

Looking further at one-week and one-month performance, most high-dividend ETFs, while still in correction, posted declines smaller than the market’s -10.68% (one week) and -13.2% (one month), indicating relatively stable volatility. Notably, 00961 maintained a positive 1.12% return over the past month, further highlighting its defensive strength.

Market analysts point out that this correction stems from multiple negative factors converging: weakening U.S. consumer confidence, a sharp drop in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, global chip stock selloffs, and uncertainty during the 'Super Central Bank Week' and major tech earnings reports, all of which rapidly cooled investor risk appetite. In the short term, the market is expected to remain highly volatile.

Jason Chiang, fund manager of FT Taiwan Sustainable High Dividend (00961), noted that the recent market weakness reflects three main pressures: the correction in U.S. tech stocks dragging down Taiwan equities, strong caution ahead of the Fed’s rate decision, and increasingly conservative investor sentiment. However, he emphasized that Taiwan’s fundamentals remain solid, with the economic indicator still flashing red and long-term momentum in AI and semiconductor demand unchanged.

Looking ahead, financial institutions widely expect Taiwan stocks to remain in a volatile consolidation phase until positioning stabilizes. In this environment, high-dividend ETFs, with their advantages of steady cash flow and lower volatility, are likely to continue attracting inflows. Investment strategies should focus on dollar-cost averaging or regular fixed-amount investments to manage uncertainty while balancing income and risk control.

Top 10 Performing Taiwan ETFs Today

| Code | ETF Name | Closing Price (NT$) | Today's Performance (%) | 1-Week (%) | 1-Month (%) | |------|----------|----------------------|--------------------------|------------|-------------| | 00961 | FT Taiwan Sustainable High Dividend | 12.59 | 0.08 | -0.79 | 1.12 | | 00936 | Taishin Sustainable High Dividend Mid-Caps | 19.75 | -0.4 | -2.9 | -7.06 | | 00939 | Uni-President Taiwan High Dividend Momentum | 21.37 | -0.51 | -1.43 | 0.19 | | 00934 | CTBC Growth High Dividend | 25.8 | -0.88 | -5.49 | -7.56 | | 00730 | Fubon Taiwan Quality High Dividend | 26.82 | -0.96 | -5.5 | -6.84 | | 00918 | Dahua High-Yield High-Dividend 30 | 31.46 | -1.16 | -2.9 | -2.09 | | 00900 | Fubon Select High Dividend 30 | 17.66 | -1.18 | -4.28 | -7.68 | | 00919 | Capital Group Taiwan Select High Dividend | 28.5 | -1.35 | -3.26 | -3.39 | | 00940 | Yuanta Taiwan Value High Dividend | 11.62 | -1.36 | -5.37 | -7.78 | | 00946 | Capital Group Technology High Dividend Growth | 14.12 | -1.47 | -5.61 | -7.95 | | TAIEX | 40,039.18 | -3.76 | -10.68 | -13.2 |

Source: CMoney | Data Date: 2026.07.29