KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 (NNN-Bernama) — ASEAN currencies, including the ringgit, are\u00a0expected to perform well this year after a downward trend against the US dollar last year, says a leading global wealth manager with strong investment banking capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlthough stronger growth could pressure import bills, current accounts should remain strong for most ASEAN markets,\u201d Credit Suisse said in its ASEAN Market Strategy Outlook 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Credit Suisse said Malaysia ranks second in its aggregate Asia Pacific scorecard, and first on valuations. It has currency potential, and the ringgit features strongly on currency metrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt has the region\u2019s second lowest real effective exchange rate, relative to the recent history, and the ringgit has underperformed the rise in oil prices,\u2019\u2019 the investment bank said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the negative side, Malaysia lacks the structural potential of Indonesia and Philippines, and the politics remain complex, Credit Suisse noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe keep a slight overweight on Malaysia, which we rank below Indonesia and Singapore in our pecking order, and view it primarily as a currency play,\u2019\u2019 it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Credit Suisse is maintaining \u201coverweight\u201d positions in ASEAN stock markets, except for Thailand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018\u2019We see ample catalysts and tailwinds for ASEAN aside from valuations. Economies should bounce back this year, with Asia Pacific\u2019s best year-on-year deltas – or change in the asset prices – on gross domestic product (GDP) growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEarnings per share (EPS) momentum has turned and should continue to outperform regional peers,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cForeign ownership remains near all-time lows. As the cyclical upturn takes hold, we expect investors to return their attention to ASEAN\u2019s structural strengths, namely demographics and low digital and credit penetration.\u2019\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Credit Suisse reckons that although some investors might worry about US Federal Reserve rate hikes, it believes that a new dynamic is now at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe believe that ASEAN is no longer rates-sensitive, and is now growth-driven,\u2019\u2019 it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On GDP, it said the ASEAN 4 – Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia – are the only economies in Asia expected to see growth this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It does not foresee more severe lockdowns in the region following the Omicron spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlthough Malaysia has some significant tourism exposure, only Thailand, which stands out for its tourism dependence, seems unusually vulnerable to Omicron,\u2019\u2019 the investment bank said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
— NNN-BERNAMA\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 (NNN-Bernama) — ASEAN currencies, including the ringgit, are\u00a0expected to perform well this year after a downward trend against the US dollar last year, says a leading global wealth manager with strong investment banking capabilities. \u201cAlthough stronger growth could pressure import bills, current accounts should remain strong for most ASEAN markets,\u201d Credit Suisse […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":110098,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[288,300,291],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158784"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=158784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/110098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=158784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=158784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=158784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}