Foreign Investors Sell Asia Equities As Tech Turns Lower

• China equities were lower on Tuesday, with tech stocks weighing on the market following Nvidia's AI event and WuXi AppTech dropping 7.50% after providing weak 2024 guidance. The property sector also traded lower amid regulators accusing China Evergrande of inflating their revenue by $78 billion in the two years before defaulting. Equity flows shifted from net inflows to an outflow of 7 billion yuan. The 5-day average now stands at 2.82 million, compared to the 20-day average of 3.3 billion and the longer-term 100-day average of just 0.30 billion yuan.
• South Korean equities were lower on Tuesday, driven by lower tech prices, with minimal other market headlines or economic data. Equity flows continued to slow and turn negative, with the 5-day average now at -$120 million compared to the 20-day average of $25 million.
• Taiwan equities were slightly lower on Tuesday, with semiconductor names weighing on the market. Taiwan's central bank is meeting on Thursday, with rates expected to hold steady at 1.875%. Taiwan Equities saw their largest outflow since January 17th, with a net outflow of -$799 million, taking the 5-day average to -$331 million, while the 20-day average now stands at $143 million and the longer-term 100-day average slightly higher at $170 million.
• Indonesian equities were the only ones in the region to see foreign investor inflows on Tuesday, with a net inflow of $48 million. The 5-day average sits comfortably above longer-term trends, with the 20-day at $22 million and the 100-day average at $19 million.
• Thailand equities witnessed a significant foreign investor outflow on Tuesday, with $521 million of net selling occurring, the largest outflow on record and almost five times the second-largest outflow. There was little catalyst for this, and with the market only dropping 0.25%, it could suggest domestic buyers picked up the slack, possibly due to an institutional fund leaving the market.

Table 1: EM Asia Equity Flows