KUALA LUMPUR (April 8): Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan anticipates that Malaysia's market will exhibit stronger resilience compared to others amid the global sell-off driven by tariff concerns.

“I think the difference about the Malaysia market is actually we have a lot of institutional support that's been able to keep Malaysia a bit more stable than others,” he remarked while speaking to reporters on Monday at the sidelines of the 12th Asean Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting (AFMGM) 2025.

Amir Hamzah also highlighted that Malaysian institutional investors have strong liquidity and are leveraging this period as an opportunity to strengthen their portfolios.

“It is also a good time for investors to return to the market, as this is when they can identify and invest in promising opportunities for the long term,” he added.

He emphasised that volatility is a natural aspect of financial markets, and rather than panicking, investors should focus on the opportunities that emerge during such periods.

After being the second-best performing Asean stock market last year, the FBM KLCI has experienced a 12.1% year-to-date (YTD) decline, tracking regional sell-off amid hefty trade tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

It now ranks as the third worst-performing Asean benchmark, trailing Thailand's SET and Indonesia's JCI, which have fallen 23.26% and 15.31% YTD, respectively.

Across Asean, the Vietnamese VN Index has declined by 10.58%, while the Singapore STI and the Philippine PSEi have dropped 8.4% and 8% respectively over the same period.