GRAPHIC-Asian equities see outflows in Jan on worries over valuations, COVID-19 cases

By Patturaja Murugaboopathy and Gaurav Dogra
Feb 2 (Reuters) - Foreigners turned net sellers of Asian
equities in January, after three consecutive months of buying,
as they booked profits amid worries over rising coronavirus
cases and lofty stock valuations.
Overseas investors were net sellers of a combined total of
$5.52 billion in South Korean, Taiwanese, Philippine, Thai,
Vietnamese, Indonesian and Indian stocks last month, stock
exchange data showed.
Global COVID-19 cases crossed over 100 million last month
with more than 2 million dead, and some delay in vaccine
distribution around the world also curbed risk appetite.
The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares'
.MIAP00000PUS forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio (P/E)
surged to 17.42 at the end of January, the highest since
September 2009.
After pouring over $4 billion in South Korean and Taiwanese
equities in the last quarter of 2020, foreigners took out vast
amounts of money from the two markets in January.
South Korea faced outflows of $5.3 billion, while Taiwan saw
net sales of $3.3 billion.
South Korea, which had initial success in containing the
pandemic, has experienced its third and strongest wave of
infections this winter, and also faced criticism it was slow to
secure vaccines for its 52 million people.
"Korea is behind in rolling out its vaccine with the Korean
Disease Control and Prevention Agency promising to inoculate 70%
of its 52m population by September", brokerage firm Jefferies
said in a report.
"We downgrade (South Korean equities) to Modestly Bullish as
the equity market looks expensive versus bonds," the report
said.
On the other hand, Indian and Indonesian equities lured
$2.66 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively, in inflows last
month.
Herald van der Linde, head of Asia equity strategy at HSBC,
said investors are moving towards markets such as ASEAN
countries, which lagged in price performance last year.
"There is some rotation between markets going on," he said.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Foreign investments in Asian equities https://tmsnrt.rs/2MlbsIM
Asia COVID-19 vaccination https://tmsnrt.rs/2YCHlPG
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>