S Korea, Taiwan stocks bag huge foreign inflow on chip demand

South Korea and Taiwanese equities experienced a huge influx of foreign investment during May, driven by a surge of interest in artificial intelligence (AI) and the subsequent demand for shares of hardware exporters in the region.

Data from stock exchanges in South Korea, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam showed foreigners purchased a net $11.74 billion worth of regional equities in May - the biggest amount since November 2022.

Specifically, Taiwanese equities attracted a massive inflow of $4.4 billion, followed by South Korean equities with $3.1 billion. The two markets accounted for about 64% of the region’s total inflows last month, reported Reuters.

The rise of ChatGPT, launched last year, has propelled the AI frenzy and sparked a global rally in chipmaker stocks.

Meanwhile, foreigners secured a net $5.3 billion worth of Indian stocks, their biggest monthly purchase since August 2022, boosted by its strong economic growth in the March quarter.

“The GDP growth print was a significant positive surprise, and strong bank credit growth and GST collections are underscoring robust corporate growth outlook, we believe,” said Manishi Raychaudhuri, Asia-Pacific head of equity research at BNP Paribas.