Equities Weekly: Asia ex-Japan Equities – Growth Reacceleration Amid Compelling Valuation Discount
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Chief Investment Office10 Dec 2025
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Asia ex-Japan equities: Growth reacceleration amid compelling valuation discount. Signs of tariff-related headwinds are easing across Asia ex-Japan (AxJ) equities, setting the stage for a robust earnings resurgence. The constructive earnings outlook is spearheaded by North Asia’s technology leaders: Taiwan, South Korea, and China – all poised to deliver double-digit EPS growth. This momentum is fuelled by AI-driven capex cycles, semiconductor leadership, and the deepening of local tech ecosystems, spanning advanced foundries to homegrown AI large language models. The de-escalation of trade tensions adds another tailwind supporting the outlook of AxJ, as evidenced by recent positive developments such as Nvidia being allowed to supply its leading-edge chips to China. With macro risks receding and policy support intensifying, the earnings revision cycle is turning sustainably positive.

Despite this superior growth trajectory, AxJ equities trade at a forward P/E discount of 25-30% to Developed Market (DM) equities. We expect this gap to narrow as global investor confidence improves, and capital reallocates into undervalued growth, aided by a softer US dollar and persistent underweight positioning. We maintain an overweight stance in AxJ, namely China, Singapore, Indonesia, and India – markets blending policy agility, large domestic consumption base, and financial resilience. Within sectors, we favour technology, consumer discretionary, communication services, and financials as key drivers of Asia’s resurgent growth story and stable dividend yields.

Equity fund flows: During the week ending 3 Dec, flows into DM maintained strong momentum, marking the 12th consecutive week of inflows and reaching USD7.0bn. US and EU equity funds saw inflows of USD0.7bn and USD1.2bn respectively, as the implied probability of a December rate cut rose. Global Emerging Market (EM) funds recorded inflows of USD1.3bn; the AxJ and China markets were range-bound during the week, with China registering outflows of USD3.2bn.

Figure 1: Valuation gap to buffer downside


Source: Bloomberg, DBS


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