GOLDMAN Sachs expects 8% rise in earnings in second-quarter

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According to the Refinitiv data, Asian companies' forward 12 month earnings estimates were increased by 1.9% in July, which was the 13th consecutive profit improvement by analysts.

Goldman Sachs, which expects 35% EPS growth for MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan this year, said continued robust sales growth and margin recovery will be the drivers of stronger earnings.

We expect 8% macro index upside in the second half of the year but the path may be bumpy given the large number of regional concerns, it said.

After a rally in the first half of this year, infectious shares faltered in July, affected by increasing cases of the more Asian Delta variant of COVID 19 in the region.

The Australian firms in July led the region's upgrade, as analysts raised their forward 12 months profit estimates 11.5%.

Analysts also raised their earnings estimate for Japanese, Taiwanese and South Korean firms by 2.4%, 2.3% and 0.8% respectively.

On the back of rising global trade, Japanese corporates have piggybacked. There are still potential upside surprises from stock restocking, an upswing in European capex and a very sharp turn-around to global growth, brokerage Jefferies said in a report.

South Korean exports in July were high, boosted by overseas demand for chips and biotech products.

According to a Reuters poll, Taiwan exports likely rose in the last month as the global economy traces its path back to recovery with sustained work-from-home trends.

The earnings upgrades also came on the back of solid second-quarter results both published by Asian companies so far.

Refinitiv data showed 64% of companies that announced second-quarter results have beaten forecasts of analysts.

During the last month, Thailand, Malaysian and China had faced earnings downgrades.