Foreign institutional investors in Taiwan recorded a substantial net outflow of funds last month, as the war in the Middle East roiled global financial markets, data released by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on Tuesday showed.
Foreign institutional investors had a net fund outflow of US$3.055 billion last month, reversing a net fund inflow of US$11.51 billion in February, FSC data showed.
The figure is the fourth largest for the month of March on record, the commission said.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan’s stock market was hurt by the war launched by the US and Israel against Iran at the end of February, setting the stage for fund outflows by foreign institutional investors last month, it said.
In the month, the TAIEX plunged 6.17 percent after foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$968.21 billion (US$30.456 billion) in shares, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
However, in the first three months of this year, foreign institutional investors recorded a net fund inflow of US$17.852 billion, the largest net inflow in history for the same period, the commission said.
The commission said foreign fund flows were influenced by stock market movements and individual investment strategies. When the stock market experienced higher volatility last month due to the war in the Middle East, it naturally affected the movement of foreign funds, it said.
From the start of the war to Tuesday, the TAIEX fell 6.17 percent, while South Korea declined 12.48 percent, Japan dropped 9.31 percent, Shanghai lost 6.72 percent, Hong Kong sank 5.69 percent and Singapore was down 0.65 percent, the commission said.
Over the same period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.71 percent, the NASDAQ dropped 2.96 percent, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index moved 2.25 percent lower, it said.
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