00:00Taiwan shares plummeted on Wednesday as investors responded to the conflict now rippling across the Middle East.
00:06The Thai X, Taiwan's benchmark stock index, plunged nearly 1,500 points during trading and ended down more than 4%.
00:14Other major Asian markets also took a big hit, with South Korea's Cosby seeing its biggest ever one-day crash.
00:21Market sentiment is down sharply, with the escalating wall threatening possible closure of the Strait of Hormuz,
00:27a key passageway for global energy shipments.
00:47Shares in Taiwanese chip giant TSMC, which accounts for over 40% of total market value,
00:52and other tech stocks also fell, while Taiwan's currency, the new Taiwan dollar, weakened against the U.S. dollar.
00:59With excess to energy now at risk, concerns are growing over Taiwan's supply, as it relies heavily on imports.
01:06Liquified natural gas accounts for over half of Taiwan's electricity generation,
01:10a third of that is supplied by Qatar, which has suspended production as fighting in the region intensifies.
01:33All of this is adding to anxiety here in Taiwan.
01:40Taiwanese officials have been working to assure lawmakers and the public that energy supply is stable through March.
01:46But as Wednesday's market decline shows, this may not be enough to reassure investors.
01:51Patrick Chen, NIT, in Taipei, for Taiwan Plus.
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