Asia-Pacific stock markets topped global charts in the first half of 2021
An investor watches computer screen at a stock exchange hall on July 6, 2020 in Fuyang, Anhui Province of China. Lu Qijian | VCG | Getty Images. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.
SINGAPORE, Jul 1, 2021, CNBC. Vietnam’s VN index and the Taiex in Taiwan both surged more than 20% in the first half of 2021, beating the S&P 500 and pan-European Stoxx 600. Other markets that saw robust gains include South Korea’s Kospi as well as the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia, which both rose more than 10% each in the first half of 2021. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index in Malaysia was Asia-Pacific’s worst performing market in the first half of 2021, falling 5.81%, CNBC reported.
Asia-Pacific’s top-performing markets led global equity markets in the first half of 2021.
Vietnam’s VN Index surged 27.6% in the first half of this year ending June 30 — way ahead of the second-placed Taiex in Taiwan which jumped 20.5%, based on CNBC’ calculations.
In comparison, the S&P 500 gained 14.4% in the first six months of 2021, while the pan-European Stoxx 600 rose about 13.5%.
Winners
Here are the top performing stock markets in Asia-Pacific in the first half of 2021, based on CNBC calculations:
- Vietnam’s VN-Index: +27.6%
- Taiwan’s Taiex: +20.52%
- South Korea’s Kospi: +14.73%
- India’s Nifty 50: +12.44%
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200: +11.02%
Other Asia-Pacific markets that saw robust gains include South Korea’s Kospi as well as the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia, which each rose more than 10% during the same period.
In mainland China, the Shenzhen component — Asia-Pacific’s top-performing market in 2020 — continued to see gains and jumped 4.78% in the first half of 2021.
Losers
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index in Malaysia was Asia-Pacific’s worst performing market in the first half of the year, and dropped 5.8%.
The Philippines’ PSE Composite Index also declined in the first half of the year, dropping 3.33%.
The losses came as countries in Southeast Asia continue to battle a resurgence of Covid infections while vaccination rates of their populations generally remain relatively low.
Asia’s economic outlook
Looking ahead, Asia is expected to “broadly remain on a healthy recovery path,” JPMorgan Private Bank’s Alex Wolf said in a note on Tuesday.
“For investors, the bottom line is to expect continued divergence,” said Wolf, who is head of investment strategy for Asia at the firm. “Vaccinations, growth drivers, and policy are diverging widely across the region, and investors need to invest selectively and actively.”
The strategist highlighted three factors that investors should monitor over the course of the rest of 2021: China’s recovery, vaccination progress, and exports — in particular, semiconductors.
“We still favor Northeast Asia (China, Korea, and Taiwan) given their exposure to structural forces such as digitalization and semiconductor demand, but as vaccinations pick up the recovery will eventually spread to South and Southeast Asia supporting both their currencies and equity markets,” he said.
Share it
| 
| 
| 
| 
|