Investors see Australia as a key defensive play

Australia continues to provide a defensive play for investors in the Far East, although it is starti...

Australia continues to provide a defensive play for investors in the Far East, although it is starting to look overdone. Within Asia, the Australian market's relatively low volatility, western-style transparency standards and high proportion of anti-cyclical stocks makes it an important defensive play. However, market watchers say Antipodean equities are close to fully priced and better value can now be found elsewhere in the Pacific. Aberdeen Asset Management's head of global strategy Michael Karagianis said: 'When investors get nervous about global growth they retreat to safe-haven ...