'It's fun to hype the recession, until the world is afraid.'
With the world reeling from the prospect of a recession, RHB Investment Bank Research says the fears are overblown and the market is setting a bullish course.
The basis is laid out by RHB in a report which shows the firm increasing its global asset allocation for 2023 in equities, market fixed income and cash.
In the same report RHB also put the projection that the equity market of the United States (US) is now showing initial bullish momentum.
He explained that the USD has reached its peak since December 2020 and the greenback is expected to depreciate against a number of other Asian currencies by 2Q2023-4Q2023.
On that factor, the firm issued a forecast that the Dow Jones market is expected to print a rebound of around 10-15% in 2023, in addition to supporting buying in India during the decline and selling in China during the rally.
It was also stated that the Southeast Asian market in 2023 will continue to remain competitive with its regional counterparts.
To dismiss claims of a recession, the firm predicts South East Asia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth will slow in 1H23 before recovering in the 2nd half of 2023.
Labor market resilience, new fiscal policy and loose monetary policy and growth in the US will be the main catalysts of global economic activity in 2023.
