Hedge funds' selling of emerging Asian market stocks last week was most in a year, says Goldman

Global hedge funds’ selling of emerging Asia market stocks last week was the most since April 2025 amid heightened risk aversion, according to a Goldman Sachs client note seen by Reuters.

Last April was when the Trump administration announced hefty tariffs on global trading partners.

The selloff, which was mainly short-selling, was concentrated in Taiwan, Korea, and India while short-selling of China stocks was relatively mild, the prime brokerage note tracking the week to Thursday, March 19, said.

As the Iran war intensified, all major regions were net sold, led in dollar terms by North America and emerging Asian markets, it said. Even so, global hedge funds’ exposure to emerging Asian markets remains around record highs.

Korea and Taiwan are among the world’s top-performing markets so far this year, as investors piled into semiconductor-related stocks including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and TSMC, betting on the surging artificial intelligence demand.

Taiwan’s benchmark index slumped 5 percent and Korean stocks fell 3 percent in early trade on Monday after the United States and Iran traded escalating threats.

Reuters