South Korea‘s stock market is expected to outperform other Asian markets thanks to its strong manufacturing sector amid growing uncertainties over the global economy, an expert said Friday.
South Korea’s equity market has been volatile in recent sessions amid lingering woes over the debt crisis in Europe and a possible double-dip recession in the U.S. economy.
After sliding down from the 2,000 mark in early August, the country‘s key stock index, the KOSPI, has been trading in the 1,700-1,800 range.
“The Korean market has been volatile. But (Standard Chartered) bank has an overweight stance on Korea,” Tim Andrew, global head of cash equities at Standard Chartered, told reporters. “From our perspective, Korea as a market will outperform other Asian markets over the next 12 month-period.”
He also stressed that the recent volatility in the South Korean market is not unique.
“I don’t think Korea has been any more volatile than some of the other countries in Asia with the recent movement we‘ve seen. In the global perspective and in an Asian perspective, I don’t think Korea has been singled out as being any more volatile,” he said.
Andrew attributed such confidence in South Korea to the country‘s consumer electronics and automobiles makers, which are globally positioned.
The expert said the Asian countries, including South Korea, will be affected by the global economic turmoil, but expected that they will not be hit hard.
“We are not immune to anything that’s happening in the developed world, but I think Asia has become a lot more self-sufficient and somewhat insulated from the global crisis than it was back in the 1990s,” he said. (Yonhap News)
