KUALA LUMPUR: It is not the end of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) yet, as investors are opting for a wait-and-see approach to President-Elect Donald Trump's actual moves in his first 100 days in the White House.
"I do not think that the TPPA is completely off the table, I think some form of it would survive," said BlackRock's Managing Director and Head of Multi-Asset Platform Strategy Asia Pacific, Steven Moeller.
"Trump has mostly been pandering to his supporters with his very protectionist campaign promises, but what he does as a candidate and as the President are two completely different things. We still need to see what his moves are in the first 100 days," he said during a media briefing this evening.
Despite all this, BlackRock is optimistic of Asian equities in 2017, with China, India and Indonesia showing the most potential.
"We are increasingly optimistic on Asia given positive signs of reflation and steady reform progress," said Moller.
"China is benefitting from more stable macro data and recovery of nominal gross domestic products (GDP) growth, while both India and Indonesia show signs of a cyclical recovery and a pick up in growth."
Trump had on Monday issued a video on his intentions of his first 100 days in office.
"On trade, I am going to issue our notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country," said Trum in the video.
"Instead, we will negotiate fair, bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto American shores."
United States-based BlackRock is Target Fund Manager for AmInvest Bhd, the investment arm of the AmBank Group.