Asia Bear Mkt To Last Until Feb 09 -BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas strategist Clive McDonnell forecasts the current Asian equity bear market will drag on until Feb 2009. That''s based on historical patterns - the average length of a bear market generally lasts about 16 months. But that doesn''t mean it''ll be all downhill until then - McDonnell sees ups and downs. He recommends going long oil and gas, materials; short industrials, consumer services during declines. During bear market rallies recommends going long industrials, IT, short on utilities, oil & gas. BNP Paribas is underweight China, India, Indonesia while overweight Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.