What to look for when investing in Asian stocks in 2018

SINGAPORE (Nov 22): BlackRock is remaining “underweight” on Singapore given the bond-proxy nature of its market and its sensitivity to interest rate increases in the US, as well as on Malaysia for its stretched valuations and lack of interesting stock opportunities.

Nonetheless, the investment management firm is positive on the outlook for Asian equities based on continued global reflation, strong earnings momentum along with solid global capex and firming energy prices that support exports.

In a Wednesday report, Andrew Swan, Head of Asian and Global Emerging Markets Equities, highlights how the MSCI AC Asia Pacific recently topped the MSCI AC World Index’s return of 24.1% in US dollars as of Oct 31 with a 32.6% return over the 10-month period, according to Bloomberg estimates.

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