Foreign Investors Pull Most Cash From Taiwan Stocks Since 2012

(Bloomberg) -- Foreign investors are pulling cash from Taiwan stocks as a range of concerns makes them skittish.

Foreigners have sold a net $3.9 billion of the island’s stocks from end-March to Tuesday, in line for the most quarterly outflows since June 2012. That has the benchmark Taiex in line for its worst quarter since September 2015 and caused the currency to erase its advance for the year.

The likelihood the U.S. will raise interest rates, weak revenue forecasts by chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., concern over iPhone sales and the China-U.S. trade tensions are all worrying overseas investors, Capital Investment Management Corp. vice president Alan Tseng said by phone. He added that they’re also concerned that foreign-exchange losses will erode any gains from equities.

The outflows have punished TSMC and iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which have seen their shares retreat more than 7 percent this quarter. Meantime, Apple delivered better-than-expected results because of services it provides to device users.

Overseas investors were net buyers of stocks on Wednesday, adding $21.3 million worth to help the Taiex add 0.1 percent.

To contact the reporters on this story: Yu-Huay Sun in Taipei at ysun7@bloomberg.net, Emma Dai in Hong Kong at edai8@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Richard Frost at rfrost4@bloomberg.net, Philip Glamann, Ron Harui

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