Sept 9 (Reuters) - Valuations of Asian shares took a hit in
August after a sharp sell-off due to an escalation of the
United-States-China trade war.
A decline of 3.4% in MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific
shares .MIAP00000PUS during August pulled down its forward
12-month price-to-earnings ratio to a three-month low of 12.78
times at the end of last month. The July level was 13.1.
A lackluster earnings performance for Asian firms in the
second quarter - in which 55% of companies in the region missed
their consensus earnings estimates - also affected price
valuations last month.
In a report last week, Goldman Sachs said its fresh 12-month
target for MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan is 515, or 1% below the
previous 520 expectation. "The difference is due to further
downward revisions to our top-down earnings estimates," it said.
Goldman also said it maintains its target valuation of 12.9
times forward earnings, which accounts for its baseline scenario
of no US-China trade deal until after the 2020 U.S. presidential
election.
Due to the fall in P/Es, regional shares were trading at
steep discount to their global peers, Refinitiv data showed.
China, Hong Kong and South Korea were the lowest-cost shares
in the region, with P/E multiples of about 11 or less.
India and Malaysia were the most expensive, with ratios of
15.98 and 15.84 respectively.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
MSCI Asia and World forward PE https://tmsnrt.rs/2N8aVZl
Valuation of Asian equities https://tmsnrt.rs/2N4D6Zs
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>