Foreign investors are pulling the most money out of Asia’s key equity markets since the 2008 financial crisis as the oil shock from the war is ripping through Asian energy supply and economic prospects.
Foreign investors in the key Asian markets have sold so far in March a net $50.45 billion worth of equities in South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, according to data from LSEG cited by Reuters.
The sum is the highest selloff of Asian equities on these exchanges in one month since at least 2008, according to the data.
Taiwan saw the biggest outflows, at $25 billion so far in March, which is the largest outflow in at least 18 years. Overseas investors have also pulled $13.5 billion out of South Korea and $10.17 billion from Indian stocks, the LSEG data showed.
Asian stocks and indexes have suffered for most of this month as the worst supply disruption in the history of the oil market reverberated through Asia, the Middle East’s key oil and gas buyer. The soaring oil prices and the high volatility in these have clouded the economic growth prospects in many Asian countries, all of which are net importers of energy. Fears of stagflation and expectations of pre-emptive rate hikes amid the oil price shock have forced recalibration of expectations of economic and equity performance.
A prolonged increase in fuel and input costs resulting from the Middle East war could force some tech companies to halt expansion plans, analysts say. Tech stocks and the AI boom were major winners in Asian markets last year.
In the early days of the war, South Korea’s Kospi Index on the Seoul stock market plummeted by 12% in a single day for its worst one-day showing on record. At the same time, foreign investors were pulling money out of emerging Asian markets at the fastest pace in four years amid concerns that the oil shock would seriously dent Asia’s growth and will upend monetary policy in many of the energy import-dependent economies.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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