Foreign Equity Flow Momentum Slows As Markets Hit New Highs

• China equities saw a sharp reversal of flows via northbound connect on Friday as -5.3b yuan left the market, while BofA has reported that China equity funds saw the largest weekly outflow since October. China data has been mixed recently with an unfolding property crisis and stubborn deflation, while factory activity fell for the fifth straight month in February, focus will be on Tuesday's Policy meeting.
• South Korean equity markets were closed on Friday
• Taiwan equities have been dominated by global moves in semiconductor prices, flows have remained positive but have been slowing. 5-day average sits at $197m vs the 20-day at $242m
• Indonesian equities have been trading sideways since mid Feb, while foreign equity flows are quickly turning negative, 6 of the past 7 days have seen outflows with the 5-day average now at -$38m vs 20-day average at +$35m. Indonesia inflation is picking up again largely driven by high rice prices, and with Ramadan coming up inflation is expected to accelerate further.
• Thailand equities saw their largest outflow in a month on Thursday and outflows continued Friday with another $23.2m leaving the market. Equity markets are trading just above technical resistance at the moment at 1,367 vs resistance and multi-year lows of 1,352.
• India equities markets saw their largest inflow for a month on Thursday with $507m. ICICI Securities have reported that foreign ownership of Indian equities is likely the lowest in a decade. The while the 5-day average of $148m sits well above the 20-day average of $24m and comfortably above the 100-day average at $90m, implying that the trend may be changing.

Table 1: EM Asia Equity Flows