《TAIPEI TIMES》Taiwan brokerage account holders reach record 14.6m

The Taiwan Stock Exchange logo is displayed inside its office in Taipei on April 13. Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA

Staff writer, with CNA The number of people with brokerage accounts in Taiwan rose by nearly 119,000 last month to a record 14.61 million, with investors aged 19 and younger accounting for the largest increase, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said.

Last month’s figure was up 118,840 from a month earlier, despite sharp market swings and an overall decline in the TAIEX, the exchange said.

Account holders aged 19 and younger rose by 43,116 to 828,674, while those aged 20-30 recorded the second-largest gain, rising by 32,813 to 1,886,864, it said.

The two age groups accounted for 63.89 percent of the monthly increase, the exchange said.

Among other age groups, the number of account holders aged 31-40 increased by 15,172 to 2,373,019, while the 41-50 group grew by 14,395 to 2,718,750.

Account holders aged 51-60 rose by 8,296 to 2,405,868, while those aged 61 and older increased by 3,355 to 4,277,195, remaining the largest group overall, the exchange said.

The number institutional holders, meanwhile, increased by 1,693 to 116,451, it said.

The rise in participation came during a turbulent month for Taiwanese shares. The TAIEX posted several intraday and closing swings of more than 1,000 points and at one point suffered a single-day decline exceeding 2,000 points.

On Friday, the benchmark index rebounded by 3,186.45 points, the largest single-day point gain in its history.

However, the rally was not enough to erase earlier losses, leaving the TAIEX down 3,006.16 points throughout the month, its second-largest monthly point decline on record.

The index gained 266.66 points, or 0.62 percent, to close at 43,386.41 yesterday.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES