Investors regain confidence, Malaysian Ringgit shakes off its decline.

[Compiled by reporter] Yang Huiping

With Malaysia's political stability and the gradual effectiveness of attracting investment in artificial intelligence, investor confidence has been regained this week as Malaysian stocks reached nearly a 4-year high, while the Ringgit also soared.

According to Bloomberg's data, with renewed interest from global investors, Malaysian stocks welcomed a large influx of foreign investment yesterday, setting a new record for single-day net inflows in seven years.

On Thursday, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Composite Index continued to rise in early trading, once reaching 1684.68 points during the session, hitting a new high since December 2020.

Bloomberg reports that the milestone of investor confidence reigniting is also evident in other asset classes, reflecting investors' increasing belief that our country has finally turned a corner after years of being overlooked due to economic stagnation and political uncertainty.

Aletheia Capital analyst Nicolo Tanzivan believes that a "better political environment and the AI boom" are benefiting Malaysia.

He further points out that due to doubts about China's economic recovery and India appearing overvalued in certain indicators, investors are shifting their focus to Malaysia.

According to data, foreign funds have collectively bought a net amount of 0.5365 billion US dollars (about 2.319 billion ringgit) worth of Malaysian stocks so far this year.

This contrasts sharply with the approximately 11.5 billion US dollars of foreign funds that have exited over the past 6 years, and is expected to help Malaysian stocks achieve the highest foreign inflows since 2022.

However, after climbing in early trading today, Malaysian stocks faced arbitrage selling pressure, with the index completely giving up its gains and reversing into a decline.

At the close, the index closed at 1653.55 points, down 21.69 points or 1.29%, with a volume of 0.3 billion 3307 shares.

The Ringgit once appreciated to 4.32.

According to data compiled by Bloomberg, the Malaysian bond index, denominated in US dollars, has a return on investment of 9.2% this year, making it the best performer among emerging markets in Asia.

After experiencing a lagging performance for most of the past year, the Ringgit exchange rate has finally rebounded strongly this year, reaching a new high since February of last year.

On Thursday, the Ringgit continued to appreciate against the US dollar, reaching a high of 4.3230 at one point. As of 5:00 pm, the Ringgit exchange rate rose to 4.3111, with a daily increase of 0.77%.

Tariq Hossain, the brokerage trading manager at Bank Negara Securities, said that the Ringgit is strengthening along with the positive outlook for the stock market. In addition, the expectation of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve has led to widespread selling of the US dollar, which has also supported the momentum of the Ringgit.

As global funds flow into Malaysia amidst the rotation of funds between China and India, and with the expectation of the Federal Reserve entering a loose monetary policy cycle, a large amount of capital has also flowed into Indonesia.

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