Electronic screens show gongs on the Exchange Square Complex, which homes the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, March 15, 2022.
Paul Yeung | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia’s markets are anticipated to proceed powering forward this yr, regardless of a rocky 2023.
Most buyers could already know which had been the the perfect — and worst — performing markets final yr. (If not, read here.)
But HSBC Global Research just lately revealed lesser known details about Asian inventory markets in 2023, and CNBC picked out three.
1. Apple’s market cap was larger than the entire of Taiwan’s or South Korea’s inventory market
Asia has been touted as the expansion space to be careful for on this planet. The International Monetary Fund is anticipating 4.2% development from the area in 2024, in comparison with 2.9% globally.
However, what could not be obvious is the scale of the hole Asia has to bridge.
Apple, the most important firm on this planet by market cap, is bigger than your complete listed fairness universe of Taiwan or South Korea.
According to HSBC’s information, Apple was price $3.01 trillion on the finish of 2023.
The firm that created the iPhone and Macintosh can also be larger than six of Southeast Asian largest markets mixed, the financial institution stated in its report.
As of Dec. 29, South Korea’s complete listed fairness universe stood at $1.9 trillion, whereas Taiwan’s complete listed fairness universe was at $2 trillion.
The ASEAN-6, made up of the economies of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand had a complete listed fairness universe of $2.5 trillion.
2. The mixed market cap of the highest 5 Chinese property firms was equal to Indonesia’s largest financial institution, BCA.
Southeast Asia as a area is a comparatively smaller market in comparison with China, the world’s second largest financial system. But Chinese shares took a large hit in 2023, falling nearly 12% last year as actual property shares plunged.
Last yr, two firms in that sector dominated headlines: Country Garden Holdings and Evergrande. Share costs of the previous actual property heavyweights plunged in 2023, dragging down your complete sector which makes up about one quarter of the Chinese financial system.
China’s property sector fell so sharply that the market cap of Indonesia’s largest financial institution, Bank Central Asia or BCA, is now virtually equal to the 5 largest property builders in China.
In comparability, the identical 5 firms had been 4 occasions as massive as BCA in 2022, in accordance with HSBC.
BCA commanded a market cap of $74.4 billion as of Dec. 29, HSBC figures present.
The financial institution’s information identified that the 5 largest Chinese property builders, particularly, China Resources Land, China Overseas Land & Investment, China Vanke, Poly Development and China Merchants Shekou had a mixed market cap of about $77.9 billion in the identical interval.
3. Singapore’s GDP is bigger than Hong Kong. But the SGX market cap is lower than 10% of the HKEX.
Singapore’s financial system is larger than Hong Kong’s and each are main monetary facilities in Asia, however the market worth of their respective inventory markets are vastly totally different.
Using information from 2022, HSBC stated Singapore’s full yr gross home product amounted to $467 billion, whereas Hong Kong’s GDP got here in at $360 billion that yr.
However, the full market cap of firms listed on the Hong Kong Exchange was at $4.7 trillion, in comparison with the Singapore Exchange’s whole market cap of $404 billion as of Dec. 29, HSBC information confirmed.
Why does Singapore’s inventory market have such a low market cap regardless of the wealth flowing by way of town state?
HSBC’s head of fairness technique for Asia Pacific Herald van der Linde stated “the matter right here is that the SGX lists principally Singapore and ASEAN companies.”
In comparability, Hong Kong has native listings and H-shares, that are Chinese firms listed in Hong Kong.
There are additionally some international names on the Hong Kong market, together with baggage firm Samsonite and luxurious model Prada, van der Linde added.
As such, van der Linde stated, Hong Kong as a inventory trade has a broader enchantment, given a a lot wider, bigger protection space that features one of many world’s largest economies.