49,712.04TAIEX · Oct. 5 close · +2.55%

DailyDrop.

31.788US dollar in NT dollars · Oct. 5 close · NT dollar up 4.2 cents
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, MON., OCT. 5, 2026No. 1 · 6:00 p.m. Taipei6 p.m. Taipei
TAIEX49,712.04▲2.55%10/5USD/TWD31.79▼0.13%10/5S&P 5007,722.72▲0.73%10/2WTI$91.11▼1.90%10/2黃金$4,162.30▼1.00%10/2
Business · MarketsSource ✓ TWSE trading data, Foxconn filing · Press ✓ 6 outlets

TAIEX Jumps 1,236 Points in a Day to a Record 49,712; Foxconn’s September Revenue Tops NT$1 Trillion for the First Time

The index is just 288 points short of 50,000, and TSMC alone added about 555 points. Foxconn is the first listed company in Taiwan to book monthly revenue above NT$1 trillion; its third-quarter revenue rose 47% year on year.

On Monday (Oct. 5) Taiwan stocks opened higher and kept climbing. The TAIEX closed up 1,236.30 points, or 2.55%, at 49,712.04, a record close, leaving it 287.96 points short of the 50,000 mark. It touched about 49,770 at the intraday high and 48,575 at the low. With trading volume at about NT$1.1508 trillion, the largest since the start of October, the market topped NT$1 trillion for the first time this month. TSMC closed at NT$2,575, up NT$75 (3%); media estimate that this one stock added about 555 points to the index. Heavyweights such as Delta Electronics, MediaTek, Nan Ya Plastics and Elite Material added about 240 points more between them. The three major institutional investors were net buyers of NT$76.449 billion combined: foreign investors, including mainland Chinese, bought a net NT$71.897 billion, investment trusts sold a net NT$6.395 billion, and dealers bought a net NT$10.948 billion. Public Television Service (PTS) reported that Taiwan’s market is, for now, the best performer in Asia this year.

Foxconn (Hon Hai) added to the mood. That day it reported September consolidated revenue of about NT$1.1586 trillion, up 25.7% month on month and 38.42% year on year, the first time a listed company in Taiwan has booked more than NT$1 trillion in a single month. Third-quarter revenue was about NT$3.0269 trillion, up 47.12% year on year and above the market’s earlier forecast of a little over NT$2.8 trillion. Foxconn said cloud networking products were driven by AI server orders, while consumer smart products benefited from new launches. Its full third-quarter results are due on Nov. 12. Many other electronics firms also posted record September revenue, including Iteq, Elite Material, Global Unichip, ASPEED, Taiwan Union Technology and Acer e-Enabling Service Business, a sign that order momentum across the AI supply chain is still strong. Not everyone agrees: Largan Precision’s third-quarter revenue rose from the previous quarter but fell year on year, and the company said October momentum is flat with September. It is a reminder that the rally is concentrated in AI-related names and is not broad-based.

On the external front, US stocks closed higher last Friday, the Nasdaq set a record, and TSMC’s ADR rose about 2.75%, lifting Taiwan’s open on Monday. The New Taiwan dollar gained 4.2 cents on Monday to close at 31.788. October TAIEX futures closed up 1,280 points. Analysts share one caution: the closer the index gets to a round number, the more volatility tends to grow, and whether volume can stay above NT$1 trillion is the key to a push toward 50,000. DailyDrop adds that revenue is a fact that has already happened, while a share price reflects expectations about the future; the two cannot simply be equated.

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By the numbers
49,712.04TAIEX close, up 1,236.30 points (2.55%) on the day, 287.96 points short of 50,000 (TWSE data; Economic Daily News, ETtoday)
NT$1.1586 trillionFoxconn’s September consolidated revenue, the first monthly figure above NT$1 trillion for a listed company in Taiwan (Foxconn filing; CNA, Anue)
NT$71.897 billionNet buying by foreign and mainland Chinese investors that day; the three major institutional investors bought a net NT$76.449 billion combined (TWSE; Economic Daily News)
Security · Cross-borderPress ✓ 5 outlets · case details from the indictment and law enforcement sources

FBI Arrests Woman of Chinese Descent at Los Angeles Airport, Suspected of Watching President Lai’s Eldest Son on China’s Orders; Presidential Office: Textbook Transnational Repression

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested a 34-year-old woman of Chinese descent at Los Angeles International Airport last Sunday (Oct. 4, US Pacific time). She was about to fly to Shanghai. She is charged with acting as an agent of the Chinese government without registering as the law requires, and with watching, on instructions, the eldest son of President Lai Ching-te, Lai Ting-yu (賴廷與), and his family. According to wire reports and Taiwanese media citing the indictment, she was directed by two suspected Chinese officials. She photographed the area around the home, logged the family’s comings and goings and daily routine, and recorded the license plates of two cars, reporting back through WeChat. The family lives in the Seattle area. The Presidential Office issued a statement on the 5th calling it “a savage act of textbook transnational repression.” FBI Director Kash Patel said the United States will not let hostile foreign forces operate at ease on its soil. The defendant has not been convicted; details will have to wait for the court proceedings.

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Word of the day
Transnational repressionSECURITY

Acts in which a government reaches across borders to surveil or threaten overseas dissidents, their families or particular communities, or to force them to return home. Victims often fall silent as a result, and the host country’s judicial sovereignty is challenged. What is unusual in this case is that the target is the family of another country’s leader.

ElectionsPress ✓ 6 outlets · crowd numbers are the organizers’ claims

About Eight Weeks to the Nov. 28 Vote: Crowds Pour Into Puma Shen’s Campaign Headquarters; Han Kuo-yu, Hou Yu-ih and Lu Shiow-yen Appear Together for the First Time to Back Chiang Chi-chen

The nine-in-one elections are now in their eighth week out. On Sunday the 4th, leading KMT and DPP figures held rallies in the north, center and south at the same time, and the next day’s front pages led with them. In Taipei, DPP mayoral candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋) opened his campaign headquarters on Beiping East Road. President Lai Ching-te, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim, Premier Cho Jung-tai and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai attended, and former president Tsai Ing-wen serves as chair of the campaign committee. Organizers later announced a crowd of 120,000; earlier reports said more than 30,000 at the start of the event. The two figures use different bases, so they should be quoted separately.

In Taichung, KMT mayoral candidate Chiang Chi-chen (江啟臣) opened his headquarters the same day. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu, New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih and Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen appeared together for the first time this election season; organizers said more than 10,000 attended. Lu said this time the mayor’s seat is being “handed over” to Chiang. The same day, DPP Taichung mayoral candidate Ho Hsin-chun held an evening rally, and People First Party chairman James Soong (Soong Chu-yu) spoke for a council candidate. Reports in the United Daily News, Liberty Times, China Times and CNA largely agreed on the events; the differences were mainly in crowd numbers and interpretation.

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Society · Human rightsPress ✓ 5 outlets · discipline as stated by police

Wanhua Police Search of a Gay Bar Draws Remarks Discriminating Against Disabled People; Four Officers Each Get 2 Reprimands, Chiang Wan-an Apologizes a Second Time

On the 3rd, Taipei’s Wanhua Precinct entered a gay bar in Ximending, open for 14 years, with a search warrant, after a city councilor said during questioning that minors might be entering the venue. The precinct said it had received 13 complaints this year. The bar’s manager was handcuffed and taken in, then referred on suspicion of an offense against public morals. During the search an officer was reported to have made remarks discriminating against disabled people; the precinct first denied it, then admitted the remarks were inappropriate after audio and video surfaced. On the 5th the city police department said that, after reviewing 41 clips of evidence footage, four officers would each have two reprimands entered in their records, and the precinct chief had asked to be disciplined. Mayor Chiang Wan-an said on the 5th, for the second time, that he was “very sorry” and ordered stronger education on police conduct. Civic groups protested outside City Hall, saying the problem is not merely individual slips of the tongue but how the law is enforced and power is used. Taipei city councilors also demanded that police explain the basis for the search.

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Defense · DiplomacyPress ✓ 4 outlets · Trump’s decision not yet announced

US$14 Billion Arms Package for Taiwan Still Awaits Approval; Alexander Yui: Progress Could Obviously Be Faster; Wellington Koo: Washington Is Reviewing

Taiwan’s representative to the United States, Alexander Yui (俞大㵢), told Bloomberg Television on the 4th (US Eastern time) that Taiwan is still waiting for arms sales worth about US$14 billion in total. Progress, he said, “could obviously be a bit faster,” but he is confident Trump will approve in the end. Bloomberg, citing senior US administration officials, said Trump is expected to decide “in a short time,” without giving a date. The report said the package cleared an initial congressional review earlier this year and was then put on hold by the Trump administration, with a considerable share being air defense systems. Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said on the 5th that Washington is still reviewing and that Taiwan respects the process. Yui also said the US side had been “very clear” that its Taiwan policy has not changed. What outsiders worry about is that Trump and Xi are expected to meet again this year, so the arms timetable could be tied to US-China talks; for now that is analysis, not any party’s official position.

DailyDrop’s position is simple: until the White House announces a decision, neither “approved” nor “about to be approved” is a fact. What Taiwan can do is communicate and wait; what readers can do is tell which words come from officials and which from anonymous sources.

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In brief
  • From Oct. 8 the High Speed Rail adds extra services for the National Day holiday, with two trains an hour southbound to each station in TaichungCNA · PTS
  • The strongest northeast monsoon of the autumn has arrived: cooler and rainy in the north and east, with localized heavy rain possible in Greater Taipei, Yilan and HualienPTS
  • The Ministry of Education says it will announce amendments to the teacher dismissal rules on Oct. 8; teachers’ groups demand the abolition of school affairs meetingsPTS
  • AGC union begins a three-day strike today and scuffles with plant staff; the striking union at the Kuai Kuai Zhongli plant petitions the Ministry of LaborPTS · CNA
  • CPBL: CTBC Brothers win the second-half title; first game of the playoff challenge is on the 9th at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball StadiumLiberty Times · UDN
  • Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gives her policy speech, calling China an important neighbor and hoping for stable developmentPTS
  • EU trade commissioner to go to Beijing for talks; UK reportedly to follow with tariffs of up to 45% on Chinese-made EVsCNA · Liberty Times
  • A National Taiwan University of Sport student was hit by a drugged driver; an orienteering national team member suffered a fracture and may give up international competitionPTS
Seven minutes every evening, one front page — see About

Unverified — what we could not confirm

“Tomorrow the Taiwan market will surely break 50,000.” Liberty Times reports TAIEX futures crossed 50,000 in after-hours trading, but after-hours volume is thin and the cash market has to prove it with tomorrow’s actual trading; analysts warn that round-number levels invite profit-taking.
“A pathogen leaked from a lab in Russia.” CNA reports nearly 200 people were taken to hospital for observation; the cause and the type of pathogen have not been confirmed by officials, and we found only one Taiwanese outlet, so we are not relying on the details for now.
“Puma Shen wants community centers to hand out drugs.” Shen says this is a smear and that he will take legal action, and he states he does not support decriminalizing drugs; we could not confirm the original basis for the KMT camp’s accusation.
Glossary · dotted words — economics, law, security and science terms explained in the context of the story. The list grows every day.
INSIDETAIEX Jumps 1,236 Points in a Day to a Record 49,712; Foxconn’s September Revenue Tops NT$1 Trillion for the First TimeBusiness · MarketsFBI Arrests Woman of Chinese Descent at Los Angeles Airport, Suspected of Watching President Lai’s Eldest Son on China’s Orders; Presidential Office: Textbook Transnational RepressionSecurity · Cross-borderAbout Eight Weeks to the Nov. 28 Vote: Crowds Pour Into Puma Shen’s Campaign Headquarters; Han Kuo-yu, Hou Yu-ih and Lu Shiow-yen Appear Together for the First Time to Back Chiang Chi-chenElectionsWanhua Police Search of a Gay Bar Draws Remarks Discriminating Against Disabled People; Four Officers Each Get 2 Reprimands, Chiang Wan-an Apologizes a Second TimeSociety · Human rightsUS$14 Billion Arms Package for Taiwan Still Awaits Approval; Alexander Yui: Progress Could Obviously Be Faster; Wellington Koo: Washington Is ReviewingDefense · Diplomacy