GTSM index continued the downward trend in the month of October. In the beginning of the month, the index stabilized amid the news of U.S. Senate passing the financial rescue plan, the Taiwan government announcing the short sale ban, and the rebound of the tech sector stocks. But from the 6th on, despite of interest rate cut by central banks around the world, including Taiwan’s Central Bank, the index fell five days in a row to hit the historical low amid absence of consumer confidence as the U.S. stocks continued to tumble, the concern over recession lingered, and the financial situations on the international scene worsened. Although the index saw a brief glimpse of light on the 14th spurred by the strong rebound of the U.S. stocks, it lacked the momentum to climb up further after the 15th against the backdrop of turbulent performance of international stock markets, and the passing away of Taiwan’s “God of Management” Y. C. Wang. From the 22nd on, the index slipped again as the U.S. stocks tumbled, DRAM makers announced worse-than-expected loss in institutional investors conference, and the expectation of steeper decline after the government restored the 7% drop daily limit. From the 30th on, the index finally halted the fall and started to rebound as the Central Bank followed the footsteps of the U.S. FED to lower interest rate. The index closed at 69.84 at the 31st, off 16.03% from the end of September.

In the Emerging Stock Market, the average daily turnover amounted to NT$170 million and a total of 39,900 transactions executed in the month of October. At the beginning of month, there were 245 stocks registered as emerging stocks, which was decreased to 238 by the end of month as 9 stocks transferred to the general board of GTSM or TSE or were delisted, and 2 new stocks registered. The market recorded the highest turnover of the month on the 30th with more than NT$347 million.