Analysts cut Asian firms' 2019 profit outlook by smaller margin

(Reuters) – Analysts trimmed their 2019 earnings forecasts for Asian companies by a smaller margin over the past month, Refinitiv data showed, as optimism for the Sino-U.S. trade deal soothed some nerves.

Over the past 30 days, analysts have lowered earnings outlook for Asia’s large and mid-cap firms’ by 0.1% due to slowing economic growth in the region, the data showed.

However, the cut was much lower than the 2.7% downgrade in the previous two months.

India, Japan and Australia led the downgrades in the region over the past month, according to the data.

“Declining commodity prices and weak consumer sentiment point to earnings revision weakness in Australia,” said Goldman Sachs (NYSE:) in a report this month, adding that its Asia-ex-Japan economic sentiment index has fallen further, which may indicate lack of confidence in the economy.

On the other hand, analysts upgraded their earnings outlook for Chinese and Taiwanese firms by an average of 1.4% and 1.3% respectively, the data showed.

Taiwan’s economy grew at its fastest pace in more than a year in the third quarter, as a rebound in demand for tech products for the year-end peak season boosted manufacturers and “offset” the impact of trade disputes.

(GRAPHIC: Change in Asian companies’ profit estimates: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/12/8223/8154/Change%20in%20Asian%20companies%20profit%20estimates.jpg)

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