More Bad News for Stocks as Asia’s Earnings Rebound Peaks

A foreign currency dealer speaks on the phone in a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, in February 2020. Photo: Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Asia’s earnings growth slowed considerably in the latest quarter, putting the region’s already lackluster stock markets further behind global peers.

Third-quarter earnings per share grew by 36% for MSCI Asia Pacific Index members, a muted performance compared with the triple-digit gains of the first half thanks to the rebound from the pandemic, according to the latest earnings data compiled by Bloomberg. Corporate profits for benchmarks in the U.S. and Europe grew 42% and 91% respectively, in the three months through September.