2026년 2월 13일 · Unknown · financial · 출처 Yahoo Finance
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Asian equities are continuing to separate from their US peers, and the performance gap is becoming difficult for global allocators to ignore. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced another 0.7% to a record, extending its year-to-date gain to about 13%, versus just 1.4% for the S&P 500 (SPY) one of the strongest relative starts this century. South Korea's 31% surge has made it the best-performing market globally, while broader emerging-market gauges are also running ahead of the US. With Asia trading at roughly 15 times forward earnings compared with about 22 times for the S&P 500, investors appear to be leaning into a mix of comparatively cheaper valuations and firmer growth prospects, particularly as regional firms control key choke points in chips, memory, foundry services and assembly tied to the artificial-intelligence buildout.
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The macro backdrop is reinforcing that rotation. Treasuries remained under pressure after January payrolls showed the US economy added 130,000 jobs, double forecasts, pushing the 10-year yield to 4.18% and prompting traders to dial back expectations for near-term Federal Reserve easing. Money markets now see the next rate cut in July rather than June, with Friday's inflation report positioned as the next potential inflection point if price pressures do not ease. Some market participants argue equities may be overreacting to the so-called AI scare trade, after a volatile US session left the S&P 500 flat and weighed on real estate services shares. At the same time, asset managers describe 2026 as a year of diversification across both regions and sectors, as leadership possibly shifts from the largest AI spenders toward the enablers of large-scale adoption.
Cross-asset signals are echoing that repositioning. The yen outperformed its Group-of-10 peers and Japan's super-long bonds rallied following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's landslide election victory, which eased fiscal concerns. The dollar slipped for a fifth straight session despite the strong payrolls print, adding to the narrative that some investors are gradually trimming greenback exposure. Oil advanced as Middle East tensions outweighed supply-glut concerns, and nickel extended gains after Indonesia signaled a sharp cut to output this year. Meanwhile, the Republican-led US House passed legislation aimed at ending President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada, though the measure would still require presidential approval or a veto override to become law. For investors, the interplay between US rate expectations, currency dynamics and Asia's expanding role in the AI hardware chain could remain central to asset allocation decisions in the months ahead.
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