More defensive, able to withstand falls, Goldman Sachs raised the rating of Malaysian stocks

Although Goldman Sachs recommended that investors adopt a “moderate defense” strategy in equity allocation in the Asia-Pacific region, it still raised the Malaysian stock rating to “hold and wait,” while neighboring Singapore was brutally downgraded to “reduced holdings.”

According to a Bloomberg report, Goldman Sachs analysts, including Timo Simo, said that compared with Singapore, Malaysia's market performance was more defensive, and was much less affected by the US economic growth and the correction in the Japanese stock market.

Of course, the main reasons why Goldman Sachs will continue to be optimistic about Malaysia include that the country's GDP performance in the next quarter was higher than market expectations, the successful diversification of the supply chain driving performance, and the improvement in net profit prospects.

As for Singapore, the overall growth performance was moderate, while net profit growth was quite slow. Most importantly, the market is particularly dependent on the trend of local banks, and the exposure is large.

Looking back at the overall net profit performance of the Asia-Pacific region in 2024, it basically recorded good performance in the next quarter, growing from 17% to 19%.

Analysts continued to maintain the MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAPJ) of 615 points for 12 months, but revised the performance for 3 and 6 months.

In terms of investment, analysts raised ratings in the telecommunications and consumer sectors, while the automotive and materials sectors were downgraded.