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.
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
Intel Corp is joining Elon Musk’s long-shot effort to develop semiconductors for Tesla Inc, Space Exploration Technologies Corp and xAI, marking a surprising twist in the chipmaker’s comeback bid. Intel would help the Terafab project “refactor” the technology in a chip factory, the company said on Tuesday in a post on X, Musk’s social media platform. That is a stage in the development process that typically helps make chips more powerful or reliable. The chipmaker’s shares jumped 4.2 percent to US$52.91 in New York trading on Tuesday. The Terafab project is a grand plan by Musk to eventually manufacture his own chips for