Asian equities are best performers

Having performed dismally in 2000 on the back of the persistent technology sell-off and investors' ongoing aversion to risk, Asian equities performed in line with their major global counterparts until July 2001, supported by interest rate cuts in the US and most countries in the region. However, since the beginning of August, Asian equities as a group have become the best performing markets, as financial sector consolidation and economic reforms have boosted banks, insurers and property-related stocks, especially in emerging Asian countries such as Thailand, Korea and Taiwan. Another ...