Goldman cut its projections for earnings-per share growth of MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index members to 32% for this year and 9% for the next, down from previous forecasts of 34% and 11%. Chinese stocks are the region's worst performers this year, a key reason for Asia's underperformance versus global peers. "China will be quite closed particularly provincially until the Olympics and that could damp growth," Sean Taylor, Asia Pacific chief investment officer at DWS told Bloomberg Television. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index is little changed for the year, versus a gain of at least 18% for its US and European counterparts. production and shipping bottlenecks show little signs of abating", said Marcella Chow, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.
