Asian markets show resilience in the face of tariffs and geopolitical tensions: JPMAM

Asian markets have demonstrated resilience in the face of global economic headwinds – including tariffs and geopolitical tensions – due to a combination of strong domestic revenue dominance, robust technology sectors and a more tempered investment sentiment towards US assets, according to JPMorgan Asset Management executives.

Executives at the US asset manager’s inaugural Asia media summit in Seoul, South Korea, on Tuesday said that Asian markets still held a rising appeal for investors.

China was a case in point, said Anuj Arora, head of emerging markets and Asia-Pacific equities, with nearly 85 per cent of listed companies’ revenues generated domestically and corporates engaged in substantial share buy-backs.

“Asian countries are not impacted by tariffs and geopolitics, and the markets are at one-year, three-year, five-year highs – it just keeps going up, even after Friday’s news,” Arora said, referring to US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 100 per cent tariff on all Chinese imports and restrict US exports of critical software from November 1.

“We’ve got to separate the geopolitics from the economics,” he added.

A stock market retreat in Asia – including mainland China and Hong Kong – was largely contained on Monday as investors bet that renewed US-China trade tensions would recede after the world’s two biggest economies left the door open for negotiations.