Foreign investors sold Asian equities on a net basis for a ninth consecutive month in July, with heavy selling in Taiwan and South Korea as concerns over AI spending and chip demand weighed on the region’s technology-heavy markets.

Regional Tech Exporters Under Pressure

Regional tech exporters came under pressure last month after Alphabet and Tesla reported negative cash flows, raising worries over the durability of growth and mounting cash burn. BNP Paribas analysts noted that AI heavyweights in South Korea and Taiwan faced massive selloffs as investors started to question their chip-demand forecasts and debt-repayment ability.

According to LSEG data, foreign investors sold a net $25.48 billion worth of stocks across South Korea, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines last month. Taiwan accounted for $22.95 billion of the outflows, following June’s roughly $8 billion in outflows, and South Korea another $6.26 billion, marking a third consecutive month of outflows.

Vietnamese stocks also recorded marginal foreign outflows of $12 million last month. Meanwhile, equities in India, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines logged foreign inflows of $2.12 billion, $1.46 billion, $88 million, and $69 million, respectively, partly offsetting the withdrawals.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.