KLCI back on a high, what now?
J.P.Morgan Malaysia Strategy Back on a high, what now? Malaysia appears to be a safe refuge for foreign investors for now given its strong domestic economy outlook ( 7.7% 2010E GDP growth JPM forecast) and relatively defensive characteristics, i.e., low volatility and weak correlation with major indices, during this bout of increased volatility in regional markets. In our view, short term uncertainties surrounding the US bank bill, Chinese growth, EU bank stress tests, and European sovereign funding have caused the KLCI to get squeezed upwards alongside other ASEAN markets, with the index now standing above 1350 (which is a 2010 as well as a 29-month high). We see evidence of foreign monies trickling in based on foreign incremental buying and ownership levels. Looking for the positives. We recap the Malaysia-specific positive drivers we see over the coming months:- 2Q10 reported results which are likely to remain relatively robust (current earnings growth of 23% in 2010 and 16% for 2