India, China best investment bets

JP Morgan also said that South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand have least appeal in terms of stock investment in Asia.

India, China, Singapore and Indonesia offer Asia's best stock investment opportunities outside Japan, while South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand have the least appeal, JP Morgan Asset Management said on Wednesday.

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The outlook for global equities in general is positive because corporate earnings are strong, inflation is subdued and global growth remains on track, added Geoff Lewis, head of investment services at JF Asset Management, which had more than US $26 billion in assets under management at the end of the first quarter.

The company is part of the fund management arm of JP Morgan Chase & Co, which had US $873 billion in assets under management as of March 31.

"Everybody is expecting that markets will be weak over the summer. We think it would be wrong to be underweight because we have seen a correction in markets, quite a decent-sized one. We don't think there's another major leg coming," he told a media briefing in Hong Kong.

The fund industry executive said there was a "strong chance" of a fourth-quarter stock market rally, once investor concerns about inflation and rising interest rates had calmed.

Global stock markets as measured by the MSCI World Index have fallen almost 11 per cent since hitting a record high on May 8, partly on concern that inflation could accelerate and prompt aggressive tightening by central banks.