Traders Cut Taiwan Stock Leverage at Fastest Pace in 15 Months

Taiwan’s retail investors unwound their leveraged stock bets at the fastest pace since April 2025 on Friday, helping drive the local equity market into a technical correction.

Margin loans used to finance stock purchases fell by nearly $896 million (NT$27.6 billion), the biggest one-day decrease since President Donald Trump’s liberation day tariff selloff last year. The outstanding level of debt has declined by 7% from an all-time high to $18.2 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The pullback underscores waning risk appetite among retail traders, who have been a key source of dip‑buying in one of the world’s best-performing markets this year. The benchmark Taiex has dropped 10% from its June peak, after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s latest earnings fueled concern over heavy capital spending and a weaker profit outlook.

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