POLL-Asian business confidence gains steam, pandemic still top risk -Thomson Reuters/INSEAD Reuters 12/23/2020 By Anshuman Daga
(For further coverage, Eikon users please search .TRIABS , or news code ASIATOPCO/ . For a PDF of the survey, please click https://tmsnrt.rs/2WAH7r1) Thomson Reuters/INSEAD Asian Q4 sentiment index 62 vs 53 in Q3 One half polled say lingering COVID-19 cases top risk to outlook Broad recovery gathers speed in latest quarter from last one
By Anshuman Daga
SINGAPORE, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Asian firms turned most optimistic in the fourth quarter this year, a Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey showed, as business activity picked up in the region and COVID-19 vaccines started rolling out in Western countries ahead of their Asian launch.
Asian business confidence gains steam, pandemic still top risk: Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey By Anshuman Daga
FILE PHOTO: Media tour at Chinese vaccine maker Sinovac Biotech in Beijing
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian firms turned most optimistic in the fourth quarter this year, a Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey showed, as business activity picked up in the region and COVID-19 vaccines started rolling out in Western countries ahead of their Asian launch.
The outlook for Asian companies in the next six months tracked by the Thomson Reuters/INSEAD Asian Business Sentiment Index jumped to 62 this quarter from 53 in the third quarter.
The latest number according to the survey of 101 firms across 11 Asia-Pacific countries was the highest since the fourth quarter of 2019. A reading above 50 indicates a positive outlook.