“Fiscal issues after the elections are of great concern,” said Stephen Innes, the head of trading for Asia Pacific at Oanda Corp. in Singapore. “To a great extent, a lot of the investigation into misappropriation of funds via 1MDB has caused the government to pull back spending, which has been a big driver of the underlying economy. I am not that positive for equities due to issues around economic growth.”
SINGAPORE (Dec 18): Just months ago, Malaysian stocks were among Asia’s highlights. Now they’re heading for some of the biggest monthly losses in the region.
The nation filing criminal charges against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for its role in the 1MDB scandal was the latest to hit the market, whose benchmark equity gauge is heading for a two-year low and its longest monthly losing streak in a decade. Adding to investor concerns are the slide in oil prices, government spending cuts and the ongoing trade tension between the U.S. and China.
