Economic rebalancing has mixed impact on ASEAN

On foreign exchange front, the performance would vary greatly among ASEAN economies from a rapid slowdown in China's economy.

Nomura Global Markets Research believed that open economies such as Singapore are most at risk from a slowdown in trade and potential capital outflows.

Depreciation risks also exist in Malaysian currency, as the country has the high level of foreign bond positioning and is susceptible to the risk of capital outflows.

While Thai baht's underperformance is unlikely to be as severe as the currencies of Singapore and Malaysia, its vulnerability has grown given its increased dependence on China through trade channels.

In contrast, the currency performance of Indonesia and the Philippines should prove to be more resilient to China's slowdown, since recent Bank of Indonesia's tightening stance should help to stabilize rupiah, and the strength of the Philippines'economy driven primarily by domestic demand and a structurally strong current account surplus should make its peso to become a relative out-performer in the region.

CIMB Research said given the importance of vertical supply chain links with China, ASEAN trade performance will be hurt if China's exports slow. Among ASEAN economies, Malaysia's export share to China is the largest at 12.6 percent, followed by the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore at 11.8 percent, 11.7 percent, 11.4 percent and 10.8 percent respectively.