HONG KONG - South-east Asian stocks, hit particularly hard by the shutdown of tourism and other service industries, are making a comeback as optimism grows over a return to travel.
Investors are jumping on South-east Asian stocks as part of a global rotation into value and out of growth sectors after positive results from a Pfizer vaccine boosted sentiment. Governments across the region are looking to ease social distancing measures, with Singapore and Hong Kong announcing Wednesday they will start an air travel bubble replacing quarantine with Covid-19 testing from Nov 22.
The"stars are aligning" for a resurgence in South-east Asian stocks, amid signs that earnings have bottomed out, according to Devendra Joshi, a strategist at HSBC Holdings. The bank is overweight shares from Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. Foreign buyers piled a net more than US$600 million into Thai stocks on Tuesday, the biggest purchase in 10 years, as the benchmark SET Index jumped the most since April.