Investing.com -- In the week ending October 9, 2024, inflows into China-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs) broke records, reaching an unprecedented $38.7 billion, Citi said in a Thursday note. The surge was a significant contributor to the overall emerging market (EM) fund inflows, which totaled $41 billion.
According to Citi, the record inflows into China ETFs marked another high point in a year of strong foreign investment into Chinese equities.
While China continued to attract substantial foreign capital, other markets did not see similar trends.
Japan ETFs experienced their largest-ever weekly outflow, with redemptions exceeding $8 billion.
Similarly, India saw its first outflow in over a year, amounting to $200 million.
“While this is not a big outflow, it is the first outflow India funds have seen in more than a year,” Citi strategists note. “At the same time India also saw over US$5bn of Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) outflow during the week.”
Meanwhile, other Asian markets like Taiwan witnessed net foreign outflows, with Taiwan seeing a $1 billion reduction in foreign capital. At the same time, Indonesia and Thailand also saw relatively large foreign selling of $329 million and $221 million, respectively.
Global stocks remained flat on Friday as investors refrained from making big moves ahead of an eagerly awaited fiscal stimulus announcement from Beijing, expected over the weekend.
Wall Street futures slipped slightly, while European markets held steady. MSCI broad index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed the week lower, breaking a streak of four consecutive weekly gains.
The global stock index remains near record highs, following a period of late summer volatility driven by concerns about a potential U.S. recession. These fears were alleviated after the Federal Reserve implemented its first rate cut of the current cycle, reducing borrowing costs by a substantial 50 basis points.
This U.S. policy shift has created space for China to introduce its own monetary support without adding pressure on the already weakened renminbi. Beijing's finance ministry has indicated that a significant fiscal stimulus package will be unveiled in a press conference on Saturday.