Asia markets regain losses
By Alvin Foo, Markets Correspondent
(Taken from the Straits Times on the 16th October 2009)
REGIONAL markets extended their rally on Thursday and have now fought their way back to where they were before the financial crisis struck a year ago.
That is still a long way below the peaks of 2007, but the remarkable rally that began amid the depths of panic and desperation in March is dramatically underlining the region's economic potency.
'The investor pendulum has been swinging towards Asia,' said CIMB-GK regional economist Song Seng Wun. 'The region's recovery prospects look better than anywhere else, and the post-Lehman selldown was probably overdone.'
The Lehman Brothers crash in September last year was the tripwire that sent the global economy into a tailspin, but bourses in the Asia-Pacific region have found traction to stage a recovery.
Wall Street's effort on Wednesday to cross 10,000 points, a surge driven by buoyant US corporate earnings, gave regional markets the push they needed.
The Straits Times Index (STI) closed at a new 13-month high of 2,712.15 points on Thursday, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index finished at a 14-month peak of 21,999.08, after crossing 22,000 during the day.
Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.77 per cent to 10,238.65, crossing the 10,000 mark for the first time this year, while Australian stocks added 0.6 per cent, bringing the S&P/ASX 200 to a 13-month high of 4,859.90.
The Shanghai market is up 63.7 per cent this year, way above the Dow's 14.1 per cent gain for this year and Britain's FTSE 100 Index's rise of 18 per cent.
The Indian market has surged 78.2 per cent this year, and the Hang Seng is up 52.9 per cent. Back home, the STI has gained 54 per cent for the year, and the Nikkei has added 15.6 per cent.
Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.77 per cent to 10,238.65, crossing the 10,000 mark for the first time this year, while Australian stocks added 0.6 per cent, bringing the S&P/ASX 200 to a 13-month high of 4,859.90.
The Shanghai market is up 63.7 per cent this year, way above the Dow's 14.1 per cent gain for this year and Britain's FTSE 100 Index's rise of 18 per cent.
The Indian market has surged 78.2 per cent this year, and the Hang Seng is up 52.9 per cent. Back home, the STI has gained 54 per cent for the year, and the Nikkei has added 15.6 per cent.
S'pore investors most upbeat in Asia: Survey
By Fiona Chan(Taken from the Straits Times on the 16th October 2009)
INVESTORS in Asia have grown more confident about the global economic recovery, and Singapore investors are enjoying the biggest boost in sentiment.
According to a survey by Dutch banking group ING, investors here have registered the biggest increase in confidence across Asia, with a 24 per cent jump in optimism between June and last month.
The buoyancy may stem from the sustained strong performance of the financial markets and Singapore property market, said ING in a press statement yesterday.
Investors in South Korea and the Philippines were the next most upbeat, with a 19 per cent and 16 per cent increase in sentiment respectively over the same period.
In general, Asian investors are experiencing strong optimism about their local economies improving and the global economy being on the road to recovery.
Export-oriented markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan have particularly cheerful investors who anticipate that their economies and that of the United States will continue improving in the fourth quarter.
In Singapore, four out of five investors believe the economic situation will get better by the end of the year.
Almost all of them - 91 per cent - believe that the local stock market will remain constant or rise in the fourth quarter, and on average they expect stocks to rise by another 9.3 per cent in the period.
Many of them are currently invested in sectors poised to benefit when the global recovery picks up, such as financial services, telecommunications, technology and commodities.
Eight out of 10 Singapore investors also believe home prices will not fall for the rest of the year. The average expected rise: 2.6 per cent.
Mr Tim Condon, head of research and chief Asian economist for ING Wholesale Banking, said the Singapore economy has 'snapped back more quickly than expected, albeit from a low base' as the Government did a good job preparing for the recession.
He believes investor confidence has been boosted by the strong rebounds in the stock and property markets, optimism about the tourism industry with the upcoming integrated resorts, and expectations of exports picking up next year with the recovery of the global economy.
One concern that Singapore investors have, however, is inflation. Three-quarters of them expect prices to rise next year, and about two-thirds think interest rates will also go up next year.
The ING Investor Dashboard survey has been published every quarter for more than two years. It is conducted across 13 markets in the Asia-Pacific, including Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
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