KUALA LUMPUR: Asean, especially Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, is a potential beneficiary of international companies moving out of China amid the trade tensions with the United States, said Maybank Kim Eng Singapore senior economist Chua Hak Bin.
Asean countries would benefit from the potential diversion of trade and investment, he said.
“For example, a multinational technology company is shifting some of its production and setting up a new plant in Southeast Asia. It shows that a big company is moving out rather than face the trade war,” he said during Maybank Investment Bank’s (Maybank IB) 2019 First Half Market Outlook session here today.
Chua said Asean had the potential to benefit from the trade dispute, which helped to push up capital and net inflow.
Meanwhile, in a statement, Maybank IB Research has forecast gross domestic product growth of 4.9 per cent for Malaysia for 2019, up from 4.7 per cent in 2018, on the recovery in mining and agriculture sectors and a potential US-China trade deal.
“Foreign fund flows are also showing encouraging signs of improvement with RM1 billion worth of net inflows into Malaysian equities in January 2019, snapping a three-month streak of foreign net selling,” it said.
On the stock market, Maybank IB said it was expected to remain range-bound for the rest of the year, adding that investors should be selective in their stock picks amid current challenging conditions.
Its top picks include Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Genting Bhd, Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd, UMW Holdings Bhd, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd, Mega First Corporation Bhd and Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd. – Bernama
