IPAC

Reflecting worse-than-expected outturns in the second quarter in a few countries, the IMF's forecast for the region has been downgraded to -2.2 percent in 2020 - the worst outcome for this region in living memory.India's economy experienced a much sharper than expected contraction in the second quarter - 24 percent on a year-over-year basis - and is expected to recover slowly in the coming quarters.China, which suffered the pandemic's blow earlier than other countries, has seen a strong recovery after the first quarter lockdown, and growth has been revised up to 1.9 percent this year, a rare positive figure in a sea of negatives.The good news is that we expect the region to grow by 6.9 percent in 2021.

Equities across the Asia-Pacific region look poised to move higher due to well-defined risk/reward setups.