Asia's equity valuations hit 10-1/2-year high in June

Singapore (July 6)  The valuation of Asian shares surged to a 10-1/2-year high in June, tracking a rally in global stocks, as upbeat U.S. and China data renewed hopes of a swift economic recovery, offsetting concerns over rising coronavirus cases.

The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares .MIAP00000PUS gained 4.83% last month, topping the MSCI’s World index’s .MIWD00000PUS 3.03% gains.

Thanks to the rally, the index’s forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio rose to 15.62 at the end of June, compared with 14.34 a month earlier. This was the index’s highest forward P/E ratio since December 2009, according to Refinitiv-Eikon data.

Benchmark equity indexes in India .NSEI, Hong Kong .HSI, the Philippines .PSI and Taiwan .TWII, gained more than 6% each last month.

New Zealand, India and Malaysia shares were the most expensive in the region, with P/E ratios of 30.7, 19.3 and 17.4, respectively.

Reuters