U.S. stocks are likely to outperform Asia ex-Japan markets this year, Ajay Kapur, Head of Asia Equity Strategy at Deutsche Bank told CNBC on Wednesday.
Despite concerns stocks may be overdue for a correction, Kapur points out the run-up is justified. "A market that can blow through sentiment that's very high is a very powerful market, the technicals are obviously very robust. And it's best not to fight that stronger tape."
Deutsche Bank has a target of 1,550 on the S&P 500 for this year.
In his report, Kapur says the slack in the U.S. economy, and easy policy in the U.S. would continue to support growth. "Consumer discretionary items in the economy, your car, your computers etc have become really small and really old. So you need to replace them... The credit impulse or the second derivative of credit growth is getting better and that is a huge predictor of activity."
Michael Yoshikami, Founder, President, and Chief Investment Strategist at YCMNET Advisors echoes a similar view. "Right now, I think there's a recovery in place, there's a lot of money floating in the system, and I think that's going to push markets forward." Yoshikami, who has 75 percent of his firm's equity portfolio invested in U.S. equities, is expecting a 13 percent gain for the U.S. market this year.
But he warned that over the next three years, the U.S. has some "serious systemic issues" it will have to deal with, including too much debt in the system.
Investors looking to leverage that bullish U.S. story could look to U.S.-linked Asian markets. Deutsche Bank expects markets in the export oriented economies of Hong Kong, Korea and non-tech Taiwan to continue to do well . "Strong global growth is becoming a consensus view. We think there is more juice in this theme," says Deutsche Bank in its report.
