Emerging‑Asia flight of capital
Record outflows from Emerging Asia equities are pressuring regional FX — KRW, INR and IDR have been singled out as weakening amid the sell‑off. (x.com) That stress comes as BRICS are still pegged to outgrow the G7, with a projected 3.7% real GDP gain in 2025–26 led by India, China and Indonesia — a structural contrast investors are wrestling with. (x.com)
Global investors have sold about $52 billion of Asian emerging‑market stocks since the Iran war began, leaving the region on track for the largest monthly equity exodus in Bloomberg‑compiled data back to 2009. (bloomberg.com) Taiwan, South Korea and India have been the hardest‑hit markets by volume, with foreigners leading the sell‑off and Asian equity indices sliding more than 2% on the worst days of the move. (bloomberg.com) The South Korean won briefly hit a 17‑year high of USD/KRW 1,516.76 on March 23 before easing, and the won has weakened roughly 4.5% over the past month against the dollar. (tradingpedia.com) The Indian rupee plunged to fresh record lows near 93.8–93.9 per dollar in late March while foreign portfolio investors sold about ₹88,180 crore of Indian equities in March to date, taking 2026 FPI outflows above ₹1 lakh crore. (business-standard.com) Bank Indonesia has stepped up dollar sales and used non‑deliverable forwards to defend the rupiah, while real rate differentials versus the US have narrowed by more than one percentage point since late 2024 after about 150bp of policy easing. (bloomberg.com) Investors have rotated into perceived safe havens: bond ETFs drew several billions in early March and foreign holdings of US Treasuries reached about $9.05 trillion at a recent peak, signalling a shift toward dollar government debt. (etftrends.com) Official forecasts still show BRICS averaging around 3.7–3.8% real GDP growth in 2025–26 — led by India’s mid‑6% growth and China’s mid‑4% growth, with Indonesia among the faster expanding members after joining BRICS in January 2025 — underscoring the growth‑vs‑risk reallocation confronting global investors. (visualcapitalist.com)
