Is value emerging in battered tech manufacturing stocks?

Singapore

EVERYONE'S bracing for slower growth in 2019, and the beat-down valuations for Singapore's tech manufacturing services stocks reflects that.

Regional purchasing managers' indices are sending weaker signals and export numbers look set to follow them lower, so there's not much reason to expect higher output next year, CGS-CIMB analyst William Tng told The Business Times.

"I think most analysts will cite the second half or third quarter of 2019 as a better time to relook manufacturing stocks," he said.

The US-China trade war and the two giants' messy brawl for tech supremacy has also created a serious overhang, said John Cheong, an analyst at UOB Kay Hian.

"Now, it is very hard to forecast future prospects because things are changing very fast and there's a lot of uncertainty. Outcomes from the trade war are very binary, so it…