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Nicholas Spiro
Nicholas Spiro is a partner at Lauressa Advisory, a specialist London-based real estate and macroeconomic advisory firm. He is an expert on advanced and emerging economies and a regular commentator on financial and macro-political developments.
Nicholas Spiro is a partner at Lauressa Advisory, a specialist London-based real estate and macroeconomic advisory firm. He is an expert on advanced and emerging economies and a regular commentator on financial and macro-political developments.
While tech giants are driving South Korea’s stock market higher, the country’s currency is struggling and foreign investors are pulling out.
Geopolitical forces, policy support, attractive rents and lower interest rates have combined to improve the outlook for both markets.
Investors’ desire for firms with ‘heavy assets, low obsolescence’ has turned the spotlight on commodities, a sector starved of capital.
The shock absorbers of supply constraints, a flight to quality, the search for safe havens and domestic demand provide a robust base.
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Stakes are high for Asia’s tech-driven economies amid a global sell-off in bond markets that signals investor fears.
While Japan remains the most developed market, property investors are finding new opportunities elsewhere in the region.
China weaponising rare earths turned the tables on Trump, showing how unprepared Western governments and firms were for a full trade war.
A variety of local factors as well as shifts in geopolitics and global commercial real estate are working in Hong Kong’s favour.
Reserve Bank of Australia is less an outlier than a harbinger of global monetary trends in the wake of war-induced supply shocks.
China’s relative resilience to the energy shock and its cheap and abundant electricity supply are an advantage in the AI race.
The war in Iran might as well be over for investors as positive sentiment, strong corporate earnings and the AI boom lift Asian markets.
Hong Kong is just one of several markets across the Asia-Pacific seeing rapid growth in investment by private wealth.
The wrong kind of inflation and the effects of the war in Iran complicate the outlook for Japanese interest rates.
While the recovery in Hong Kong’s real estate market has its weaknesses, the underpinnings of the latest upturn look more solid.
While India’s economy is stronger than it was in previous sell-offs, lingering weaknesses are coming to the fore and driving new tensions.
The city state’s problems pale beside those in other Asia-Pacific markets facing supply shortages that drive up prices and rents.
While there is reason for optimism, the ceasefire in Iran remains tenuous and the return of inflation is not the kind China wants to see.
Asia’s unique energy markets, power sourcing strategies and vast digital infrastructure requirements underpin the sector’s resilience.
Central banks cannot pump oil into the global economy in the same way they can flood the financial system with liquidity.
While the country’s economy and currency are struggling, Japan’s property fundamentals remain strong.
Markets might be convinced Trump will chicken out again, but that won’t reassure Asian nations scrambling to deal with energy shortages.
While monetary tightening would add to affordability pressures, it would have little bearing on the forces driving up prices and rents.
As the conflict threatens Asian economies, the best protected are those that can leverage import diversification and energy independence.
While higher energy prices pose a threat to global travel, Asia’s strong regional travel demand and diversified source markets offer resilience.
The danger from the Iran war cannot be assessed in isolation. Rather, it is one of several major vulnerabilities that could trigger a much sharper sell-off.
Asian property’s sources of resilience are potent and multifaceted, with the drivers of sentiment distinct from those in financial markets.
Investors have grown used to brushing off geopolitical threats, but turmoil in the Middle East poses a greater risk to the global economy.
Several factors contribute to the outperformance of the Australian retail sector, including its relative insulation from digital disruption.
Markets assuming Trump will chicken out and downplaying risks contribute to the normalisation of the US president’s chaotic behaviour.
