Australia’s fiscal and monetary positions are better than in many other countries, underpinning a stock market that may fall less than the U.S. market, says Greg Vaughan, managing director of Ankura Capital.

Resource stocks are sensitive to the global slowdown but China is a significant counterbalance, he says.

Vaughan, whose firm manages about $1 billion in Australian equities, says Australian banks are “robust” and in a better position than U.S. and European banks.

Property, infrastructure and utility companies have addressed their balance sheet issues, he says.

“They look cheap,” says Vaughan. “Exporters and import competing companies are under pressure from a strong Australian dollar that has recently come off.”

He cautions against trying to take advantage of stock market drops to invest.

“Trying to be cute about sharp market reversals is a treacherous business,” he says.

Ankura is a unit of BNY Mellon.

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