Typhoon Champi shuts Taiwan stock market

Taiwan will suspend trading on its stock exchange on Friday, 23 October 2026, as Typhoon Champi approaches the island with heavy rainfall and strong winds. The decision closes a stock market valued at about $5 trillion and follows government orders to shut offices and schools in the capital Taipei. Financial markets will not operate during the closure, aligning with the broader suspension of work and classes.

Stock market settlements that were scheduled for Friday will be postponed to the next business day. Trading in cash equities and onshore derivatives will be suspended, and positions and expiries scheduled for the closure day will roll forward rather than lapse. The suspension is tied directly to the typhoon conditions and the associated government shutdown of normal activity across affected areas.

Authorities have ordered the closure of schools and offices in Taipei and major hubs including Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung. These measures reflect expectations of heavy rainfall and destructive winds as Champi nears northern Taiwan late Friday into Saturday. As of 6 p.m. local time on Thursday, a total of 126 domestic flights and 40 international and cross-strait flights had been canceled.

Taiwan is expected to take the brunt of Champi’s impact, with torrential rain and damaging winds threatening the island. The approaching storm is disrupting transport and business operations ahead of landfall or closest approach, with the stock exchange suspension forming part of a wider set of precautionary shutdowns.

Champi has weakened slightly from its earlier super typhoon strength but is still packing top sustained winds of 213 kilometers (132 miles) per hour, equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane. It is currently about 713 kilometers (443 miles) southwest of Japan’s Okinawa and is forecast to pass closest to northern Taiwan late Friday into Saturday. Champi is the 10th storm in the northwest Pacific Ocean this season to reach super typhoon strength, double the long-term average.

The storm is forecast to maintain typhoon intensity as it brushes the eastern coast of mainland China over the weekend before heading toward Kyushu in southwest Japan. Heavy rains are expected in Shanghai and parts of Zhejiang province, with warnings of farmland waterlogging and wind damage to crops in coastal areas of Zhejiang and Fujian. Champi ranks among the most powerful storms this year based on wind speeds and central pressure.

Weather-driven exchange suspensions are a recurring feature of the Taiwanese market calendar, which operates in a region regularly affected by typhoon season. When Taipei announces closures, the stock exchange follows by suspending cash equity and onshore derivatives trading. Settlement obligations and expiries scheduled for such days are shifted to the next trading session rather than being canceled.

While the primary onshore market closes during these events, offshore Taiwan-linked futures and regional index products have historically continued trading. Index providers treat these sessions as non-trading days within their methodologies. When the Taiwan market reopens after a closure, price action reflects a catch-up process as domestic trading realigns with moves in offshore instruments and regional peers during the suspension.