Foreign investors net sellers of Asian equities for ninth straight month in July, led by Taiwan and South Korea
Price Action
Foreign investors were net sellers of Asian equities for a ninth consecutive month in July, with selling concentrated in Taiwan and South Korea. Concerns over artificial intelligence-related spending and semiconductor demand weighed on markets with a heavy tech weighting, while deteriorating cash flow at Alphabet and Tesla also pressured Asian tech export stocks. According to LSEG data, foreign investors sold a combined 25.48 billion dollars worth of equities last month across seven markets: South Korea, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Taiwan stocks accounted for 22.95 billion dollars of the selling, and South Korean stocks 6.26 billion dollars. Meanwhile, Indian, Thai, Indonesian, and Philippine equities attracted foreign inflows of 2.12 billion dollars, 1.46 billion dollars, 88 million dollars, and 69 million dollars respectively, partially offsetting the outflows. HSBC's head of Asia-Pacific equity strategy noted that global investors are diversifying amid volatility in AI-related sectors, and that India is better positioned.
