17 February, 2026

Asia and EM equities leadership and diversification

Summary

Highlights

Most equity indexes in Asia rose more YTD than both the US and Europe, except for China. Within EM, Latin America also saw strong gains.
Looking to Asia, the rally suggests that investors are moving outside of US mega caps to AI supply-chain enablers.
With persistent uncertainty, diversification* across countries and sectors, with a focus on quality and balance-sheet discipline, has become paramount.

Dot-and-whisker chart titled “YTD equity performance” showing year-to-date equity returns across regions: North America, China, Europe, Pacific ex-Japan, Emerging Markets and Japan. Dots show YTD performance; vertical lines display intra-year minima and maxima. Source: Amundi/Bloomberg 11 Feb 2026.

In this edition

Since the start of the year, Asian indexes are leading equity markets, with the MSCI Asia Pacific registering its best performance relative to the S&P 500 since 2000. This outperformance is linked to robust demand for semiconductors and AI-related components, confirming a rotation of investors’ interest from companies with a high level of AI investment to companies that control scarcity inside and outside of the IT sector: critical chips and memory, power equipment, grid infrastructure, thermal management.

Another factor supporting global EM is a weaker US dollar and dovish monetary policy, with room to cut further. Finally, medium term valuations are not excessive.

Overall, the range of YTD equity performance affirms the importance of diversification * across regions and sectors to avoid concentration and overvaluation risk. While Asia has felt recent volatility, especially in AI‑sensitive areas, we believe the trend of diversification * still has room to run.

*Diversification does not guarantee a profit or protect against a loss.

** MSCI Index.

Key dates

16 Feb

Japan GDP, EZ industrial production

18 Feb

UK CPI, US industrial production

20 Feb

EZ preliminary PMI, US GDP

Read the full article on the Amundi Research center

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