Asian stocks attract foreign inflows for second month, but tariff outlook clouds
Foreign investors bought a net $6.02 billion worth of equities across Taiwan, South Korea, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines in June, down from $10.65 billion in the previous month, according to LSEG data.
The MSCI Asia ex-Japan Index rose 5.33 per cent last month, its strongest monthly gain since September 2024, outperforming the MSCI World Index, which advanced 4.36 per cent.
Upbeat demand for artificial intelligence-linked products, underscored by record highs in chip-maker Nvidia and Broadcom last month, spurred strong foreign inflows into Asia's technology sector, with Taiwan and South Korea - the region's dominant tech exporters - attracting net purchases of $3.22 billion and $2.01 billion, respectively.
Foreign investors also added a net $1.69 billion worth of Indian stocks in a third straight month of net purchases.
Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese and Philippines stocks, meanwhile, saw net outflows of $515 million, $243 million, $73 million and $72 million, respectively in the last month.
However, analysts remained cautious about the regional outlook, which hinges largely on tariff policy decisions by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Earlier this week, Trump postponed his tariff deadline to August 1 from the previous July 9 to allow time for negotiations, but simultaneously escalated trade tensions by announcing new duty rates for several countries, including major trading partners Japan and South Korea, and imposing a 50 per cent tariff on copper.
While tariff uncertainty now extends to August, the growth impact may be less severe than feared, Goldman Sachs said on Friday, and that final announcements could act as a risk-positive "clearing event" despite higher-than-expected rates.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
17 minutes ago
- Straits Times
US stocks close with modest gains as investors await earnings, economic data
Find out what's new on ST website and app. A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on July 14. NEW YORK - Wall Street stocks closed marginally up on July 14 as investors sidestepped any meaningful moves following US President Donald Trump's latest tariff threats, and held steady ahead of a busy week of economic data and the start of earnings season. Mr Trump ramped up trade tensions over the weekend, vowing to slap a 30 per cent tariff on most imports from the European Union and Mexico starting Aug 1 - leaving the clock ticking for last-minute trade deals. The EU extended its pause on retaliatory measures until early August, holding out hope for a negotiated truce. The White House said talks with the EU, Canada and Mexico are still underway. Despite the headlines, investor reaction was muted, having grown numb to Mr Trump's barrage of tariff threats and his frequent last-minute U-turns. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 88.14 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 44,459.65, the S&P 500 gained 8.81 points, or 0.14 per cent, at 6,268.56 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 54.80 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 20,640.33. Trading volume was also subdued, with 15.43 billion shares changing hands, compared with the 17.62 billion average for the last 20 trading days. Markets have been buoyant in recent weeks even as Mr Trump has rattled his tariff saber. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore HSA intensifies crackdown on vapes; young suspected Kpod peddlers nabbed in Bishan, Yishun Singapore Man charged over distributing nearly 3 tonnes of vapes in one day in Bishan, Ubi Avenue 3 Singapore Public healthcare institutions to record all Kpod cases, confiscate vapes: MOH, HSA Singapore Man allegedly attacks woman with knife at Kallang Wave Mall, to be charged with attempted murder Singapore Singapore boosts support for Timor-Leste as it prepares to join Asean Singapore UN aviation and maritime agencies pledge to collaborate to boost safety, tackle challenges Singapore High Court dismisses appeal of drink driver who killed one after treating Tampines road like racetrack Singapore 18 years' jail for woman who hacked adoptive father to death after tussle over Sengkang flat The Nasdaq Composite ended at a record high, its seventh such achievement since June 27. The S&P 500, which finished a dozen points below July 10's best ever close, has had five records in the same timeframe. 'If anything is holding the market back, it's the fact we've had a pretty good run since April,' said Mr Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy & research at Glenmede. He noted that despite initial fears that Mr Trump's tariff policy would hurt the US economy, the levies unveiled so far and the passage of his signature economic legislation last week will broadly offset each other, meaning investors are starting to be more confident about the economy's growth prospects. Signs of how Mr Trump's policies are playing out will come this week, with a raft of new reports on the state of the US economy due up. Second-quarter earnings season kicks off on July 15, when several Wall Street banking heavyweights are set to report. July 15 is also the scheduled release of the latest consumer price data, which is expected to reveal an inflation uptick in June as sellers started passing on the cost of sweeping tariffs. July 16's producer and import price reports will offer fresh insight into how supply chain pressures are shaping up. One place where Mr Trump's tariff rhetoric still moved markets was crude prices, with US benchmark oil dropping 2.2 per cent after he threatened levies on buyers of Russian exports, which may have knock-on effects on global energy supplies. This pushed the energy index down 1.2 per cent, the biggest decliner among the 11 S&P sectors. A majority of the sectors closed in positive territory though, led by the 0.7 per cent advance by communication services . It was helped by gains in Netflix, which reports earnings on July 10, and Warner Bros Discovery, whose latest Superman caper had a strong opening weekend at the box office. Crypto stocks ticked up after Bitcoin topped US$120,000 (S$153,604) for the first time. Coinbase rose 1.8 per cent, and MicroStrategy gained 3.8 per cent. Waters Corp dropped 13.8 per cent after the lab equipment maker agreed to merge with rival Becton, Dickinson and Company's Biosciences & Diagnostic Solutions unit in a US$17.5 billion deal. REUTERS
CNA
2 hours ago
- CNA
Trump to unveil $70 billion in AI and energy investments
PITTSBURGH :U.S. President Donald Trump will announce $70 billion in artificial-intelligence and energy investments on Tuesday, according to a White House official and a person familiar with the initiatives. Trump will reveal details of these new initiatives at an event near Pittsburgh, where he will be joined by Republican Senator David McCormick, who is hosting the first Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University. McCormick's office did not respond on Monday to requests for details of the announcements. The investments come from various industries that include new data centers and power grid upgrades and expansions, according to the White House official.
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
Trump to unveil $90 billion in US AI and energy investments
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump will announce US$70 billion (S$90 billion) in artificial intelligence and energy investments in Pennsylvania on July 15, the latest push from the White House to speed up development of the emerging technology. Mr Trump is expected to share details of the new initiatives at an event outside Pittsburgh, according to an administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the planning. Investments from a range of companies will include new data centres, power generation expansion and grid infrastructure upgrades, along with AI training programmes and apprenticeships, the official added. Mr Trump will be joined by Republican Senator David McCormick who's hosting the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University. AI and energy leaders, including as many as 60 executives, are expected to attend. Among those slated to participate are BlackRock's Larry Fink, Palantir Technologies' Alex Karp, Anthropic's Dario Amodei, Exxon Mobil's Darren Woods and Chevron's Mike Wirth, the official said. Blackstone's Jon Gray is expected to announce a US$25 billion project for data-centre and energy infrastructure development and a joint venture to increase power generation, which is expected to create 6,000 construction jobs annually and 3,000 permanent jobs, according to Mr Jake Murphy, a spokesman for McCormick. Blackstone declined to comment. Axios reported the details of summit earlier. The announcements on July 15 would mark the latest step by Mr Trump toward meeting his pledge of ensuring US leadership in artificial intelligence. Since the start of his second term, the president has taken a wide-ranging approach that includes drawing in private-sector investments, moving to ease regulations and accelerating the permit process for new projects. Earlier in 2025, Mr Trump announced a US$100 billion investment in AI data centres from SoftBank Group, OpenAI, and Oracle Corp. The administration has also rescinded the AI chip curbs imposed by former president Joe Biden's administration as part of a broader effort to boost American innovation and ease US allies' access to advanced technology. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore HSA intensifies crackdown on vapes; young suspected Kpod peddlers nabbed in Bishan, Yishun Singapore Man charged over distributing nearly 3 tonnes of vapes in one day in Bishan, Ubi Avenue 3 Singapore Public healthcare institutions to record all Kpod cases, confiscate vapes: MOH, HSA Singapore Man allegedly attacks woman with knife at Kallang Wave Mall, to be charged with attempted murder Singapore Singapore boosts support for Timor-Leste as it prepares to join Asean Singapore UN aviation and maritime agencies pledge to collaborate to boost safety, tackle challenges Singapore High Court dismisses appeal of drink driver who killed one after treating Tampines road like racetrack Singapore 18 years' jail for woman who hacked adoptive father to death after tussle over Sengkang flat The administration's moves are aimed at keeping the US ahead of China in the race for an advantage in AI. China has invested significantly in the emerging technology, and the Chinese startup DeepSeek rattled investors on Wall Street in January with its breakthrough R1 model that suggested AI could be developed for far lower cost. Mr Trump and other administration officials have also stressed the importance of meeting another tech industry priority: ensuring the US has enough power to run energy-hungry AI data centres. In their view, adequate electricity supply is intertwined with national security, essential to keeping the US ahead of global competitors in the race to dominate artificial intelligence. By 2035, data centres are projected to account for 8.6 per cent of all US electricity demand, more than double their 3.5 per cent share today, according to data from Bloomberg NEF. The Trump administration has said expanding the use of coal-fired power, along with electricity from natural gas and nuclear, is needed to help fuel the boom and has warned of future blackouts if the that fails to happen. The US Energy Department has already used emergency authority to keep two-power plants that were slated to close online, and has signaled additional federal intervention may be forthcoming. By hosting the event in Pennsylvania, Mr Trump and McCormick are elevating the political importance of accelerating AI development. The Keystone state is a so-called battleground that Mr Biden won in 2020 and Mr Trump took 2024. The event follows the closing of the US$14.1 billion acquisition of Pittsburgh-based US Steel by Nippon Steel, an agreement that ended a bruising takeover battle that was embroiled in American politics for months until finally gaining support from Mr Trump. That deal is expected to domestic steel production and protect thousands of jobs. Both Mr Trump and Mr Biden also jockeyed for the support of union workers, and the deal is opposed by the United Steelworkers union. BLOOMBERG
