SINGAPORE: Beaten-down equities in Southeast Asia have become irresistibly cheap, according to analysts at HSBC who recommend investing in Indonesia and across the region in a contrarian note on Monday that forecasted the best returns from laggard Singapore.
“At the beginning of pandemic, the visibility of these factors was foggy at best, but we think clarity has emerged now and these factors should be supportive for Asean equities,” strategists Devendra Joshi and Herald van der Linde said in a note. The call comes as Southeast Asia’s equity markets lag the global recovery amid persistent outflows from foreign investors and with many fund managers feeling it is too soon to return — something HSBC views as a positive.