Stock dips 'bring opportunity to buy'

The concerns that have buffeted global stocks this week cast a particularly dark shadow over emerging and frontier markets, but one prominent fund manager says the dip presents a buying opportunity. Mark Mobius, the executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management and leader of the company's emerging markets coverage, said yesterday he saw opportunities in the BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China, and even in Dubai.

Mr Mobius, who oversees US$34 billion of funds, said: "Despite the fact that a lot of people think we are entering into a bear market, we don't believe so." The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has fallen 15.6 per cent from its high on April 15, when investors were first alerted that Chinese officials were looking to slow inflation. The MSCI Frontier Markets Index has fallen 10.9 per cent over the same period.

The euro zone's debt problems heightened concerns that the global economy was headed for rough waters. Mr Mobius told Reuters he was seeking bargains from the BRIC region and frontier markets to accommodate money coming in. "We've been buying because we have had net flows into our funds and most of the buying has been in the BRIC countries," he said. Mr Mobius was bullish on the Chinese market. "We're selecting companies which we think over the longer term will survive and prosper - in China mainly anything related to consumers and consumer banking."

He added that he liked commodities such as aluminium. "But it's bottom-up investing. We're looking at individual securities." Mr Mobius was not available to comment further on which stocks or sectors in Dubai were attractive buys. Egypt's EGX 30 index is up 1.6 per cent for the year so far, making it the best performing market in the region. The Dubai Financial Market General Index is down 11 per cent for the same period.

Mr Mobius dismissed Chinese asset bubble concerns, pointing to the country's size, and said the prices of some properties had gone up while others remained flat. "You have to look at the individual province and by individual company basis," he said. The fund manager said frontier markets including Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia also offered potential. @Email:[e-mail]