Net fund outflows from foreign investors totaled US$5.45 billion last month, the third consecutive month of net foreign fund outflows and the highest after US$6.8 billion in March, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) data showed on Monday.
The latest figure brought cumulative fund outflows by foreign investors in the first eight months of this year to a record US$16.7 billion amid persistent sales of local shares, the data showed.
That compared with net fund inflows of US$7.45 billion by foreign investors during the same period last year, the commission said.
Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei Times
Last month’s net fund outflows came as foreign investors sold a net NT$107 billion (US$3.48 billion) of local shares in the month following rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve.
From January to last month, foreign investors sold a net NT$1.01 trillion of local shares, comprising net sales of NT$961.6 billion on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and net sales of NT$44.4 billion on the Taipei Exchange, the data showed.
Amid a high-interest rate environment, foreign investors are pursuing high-yield assets and have adjusted their holdings of local shares, the commission told an online news conference.
Foreign funds would return to the local market, as Taiwanese equities have good fundamentals, Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director Kao Ching-ping (高晶萍) said.
The average daily turnover of local shares has fallen to about NT$200 billion, compared with an average of NT$390 billion last year, indicating that investors have become more conservative toward local shares due to rate hikes and geopolitical tensions, Kao said.
The commission would monitor the situation and implement measures to boost the turnover if necessary, she said.
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
WARNING SHOT: The US president has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all imported vehicles, and similar or higher duties on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that a trade deal with China was “possible” — a key target in the US leader’s tariffs policy. The US in 2020 had already agreed to “a great trade deal with China” and a new deal was “possible,” Trump said. Trump said he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit the US, without giving a timeline for his trip. Trump also said that he was talking to China about TikTok, as the US seeks to broker a sale of the popular app owned by Chinese firm ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動). Trump last week said that he had
RSS