Stock selection crucial in Asia-Pacific

By John Crawford, fund manager at Henderson Global Investors Global equity markets have rallied strongly since early October on the back of better-than-expected corporate earnings, reduced fears of a military attack on Iraq, and improving economic data in the US. The Asia-Pacific region has been no exception, buoyed by investors' improved tolerance for higher-risk assets and attractively valued shares. Highly cyclical markets have performed especially well, with both Korea and Taiwan up by 14% and 16%, respectively. However, this has been partly offset by lacklustre gains in ...