Credit Suisse sees further upside for the Chinese markets, even after shares on the mainland made their largest monthly gain in almost four years in February.
“I think (the) China market is going to go up from here, all the signs are there,” Suresh Tantia, a senior investment strategist at Credit Suisse’s Asia-Pacific CIO Office, told CNBC’s “Capital Connection” on Friday. “If you’re a global equity fund manager, I think you need to be in China.”
Tantia said there were a number of reasons behind his positive take on China.
One such factor was optimism over the state of the ongoing U.S.-China trade negotiations, he said: “There have been signs that, most likely, we will see some sort of deal taking place in the next few months.”
Furthermore, he added, China’s economy appears to be stabilizing despite the weak February manufacturing numbers from the country.
Acknowledging that Friday’s release of a private survey indicated China’s manufacturing sector contracted, the Credit Suisse strategist said domestic demand appeared “very strong.”
The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 49.9 for February — higher than January’s reading of 48.3, and better than the 48.5 that economists polled by Reuters had forecast. Still, a reading below 50.0 indicates a contraction in activity.
“It was the export number which led to the weakness in the PMI numbers,” Tantia said.
Still, taking multiple factors into consideration, he added, the data showed that the recent course of fiscal and monetary stimulus from the Chinese government is “actually working.”
“We love China at the moment,” Tantia said.
“They said pigs don’t fly, but I think they do when it’s their time, and this is the Year of the Pig,” he said, in reference to the zodiac animal which represents the current Chinese lunar year.
Tantia’s comments came after the Chinese markets skyrocketed in February. The Shanghai composite ended the month up 13.8 percent — its largest monthly gain since April 2015, according to Reuters.
— CNBC’s Huileng Tan contributed to this report.
