BENGALURU: Malaysian markets were steady on Thursday, after Bank Negara kept interest rates unchanged as expected, while Asian equities rebounded on optimism that Washington and Tehran may move to cool hostilities after a bruising multi-day sell-off.
The ringgit was little changed, edging slightly softer on the day, but remained up nearly 3 percent year-to-date, making it the region’s best-performing currency.
Kuala Lumpur shares rose 0.7 percent, bringing year-to-date gains to almost 2 percent.
Investors have been comfortable staying long on the ringgit through local bonds, as the currency’s rebound and stable policy settings improve unhedged returns.
“Being a net oil exporter, Malaysia’s terms of trade should also improve on the back of higher oil prices, lending support for the ringgit,” said MUFG currency analyst Lloyd Chan.
Adding to the policy backdrop, China, South East Asia’s largest trading partner, set a slightly lower growth target than last year in its closely watched economic plan, signalling broadly steady settings for 2026.
Across the region, sentiment improved after Wednesday’s rout, when benchmark indexes in both Seoul and Bangkok triggered circuit breakers following drops of more than 8 percent. The MSCI emerging Asia index rose 3 percent on the day, snapping a four-day slide and clawing back part of the near-10 percent it had lost.
South Korea’s KOSPI closed up 9.6 percent, ending three straight days of declines and recovering nearly all of Wednesday’s record plunge.
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