Major markets saw strong inflow momentum to start the week on Monday, aided by the risk on bounce induced by positive US-China trade headlines/developments. Taiwan saw just over $1bn in net inflows, although this wasn't enough to bring the 5-day sum back into positive territory. The Taiex is trying to move higher today, but is just short of record highs, holding near 28000.
- For South Korean markets, net inflows were not quite as strong yesterday, while early trends today are notably poorer. Close to $1bn in net outflows has been seen in Tuesday trade to date (see KSFINET Index on BBG), as the Kospi softens, down more than 1%. The local index has surged so far in Oct and is still close record highs above 4000. US-South Korea trade concerns persist particularly over the $350bn investment pledge and its impact on local FX. BBG notes onshore retail investors moving into USD denominated assets to protect against further FX losses. This may be impacting offshore investor sentiment as well.
- Indian inflow momentum remained positive into the end of last week, but had slowed. Chatter around the US-India trade deal has died down somewhat, while local equity index gains have slowed relative in Oct.
- In SEA, inflow momentum remains strong into Indonesia, not impacted by FX weakness. Trends are more mixed elsewhere.
Table 1: Asian Markets Net Equity Flows
| | Yesterday | Past 5 Trading Days | 2025 To Date |
| South Korea (USDmn) | 617 | 101 | 3596 |
| Taiwan (USDmn) | 1019 | -1375 | 6054 |
| India (USDmn)* | 65 | 61 | -16105 |
| Indonesia (USDmn) | 72 | 295 | -2787 |
| Thailand (USDmn) | -70 | 290 | -2932 |
| Malaysia (USDmn) | -58 | -61 | -4179 |
| Philippines (USDmn) | -5 | -14 | -730 |
| Total (USDmn) | 1639 | -704 | -17083 |
| * Data Up To Oct 24 | | | |
Source: Bloomberg Finance L.P./MNI