(Updates with afternoon trade)
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Ringgit steady at 4.041 per dollar
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BNM leaves OPR unchanged at 2.75% as expected
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Stocks gain near record levels on easing geopolitical tensions
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Rupiah extends gains on central bank's decision
By Nichiket Sunil
Jan 22 (Reuters) -
Malaysian equities inched higher, while the ringgit was steady on Thursday after the country's central bank kept its interest rate unchanged, expecting robust growth this year.
Elsewhere, currencies ?appreciated on the day, with the Indonesian rupiah extending gains after the Indonesian central bank held rates and stressed rupiah stabilisation efforts on ?Wednesday, pulling the currency from record low levels.
The ringgit was at 4.0420 per U.S. dollar, while Kuala ?Lumpur stocks advanced 0.6% to within a few points of a seven-year ?peak. The currency, among Asia's ?strongest, appreciated nearly 0.5% so far this month after a 9% gain in 2025.
Strong economic growth and record-high
trade
performance last year highlighted Malaysia's ?strong economic fundamentals, while reducing pressure on the central ?bank to ease rates any further.
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)
left
its overnight policy rate unchanged at 2.75%, as expected, and forecast economic growth in 2025
at the upper end of its outlook ?range.
"The rate hold was widely anticipated. There were no ?major shifts ?in rhetoric in the policy statement either, which retained the 'appropriate and supportive' stance, benign inflation view and acknowledgment of both upside and downside risks to growth," ANZ economist Krystal Tan said.
Jeff ?Ng, head of Asia macro strategy at SMBC, said, "Looks like BNM can afford to wait and see without committing to a dovish or hawkish tone."
Stocks in the region raced towards record highs on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump softened his stance on EU tariff threats and ruled out seizing Greenland from an ally by force, reviving appetite for riskier assets.
The MSCI gauge of Asian emerging stocks surged ?0.7%, with ?equities in South Korea securing a record closing high, Taiwan ended a few points shy of its all-time high.
East Asian benchmarks rose as the pause in geopolitical tensions allowed markets to ?return to artificial intelligence-linked asset optimism.
"The rebound is strongest in pockets, which were earlier in good momentum, notably in semiconductor markets such as South Korea and Taiwan," Rajat Agarwal, Asia equity strategist at Societe Generale, said.
"In addition to the developments on the greenback, the renewed confidence on global AI spending and demand from industry leaders is certainly helping these markets."
Stocks across Southeast Asia advanced: Singapore and Indonesia resumed their move towards lifetime highs scaled earlier this month.
HIGHLIGHTS:
** ?South Korea launches landmark laws to regulate AI, startups warn of compliance burdens
** Hyundai Motor's Korean union warns of humanoid robot plan, sees threat to jobs
** TEPCO to halt reactor at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant a day after resumption, NHK says
Asia stock indexes ?and currencies at 0730 GMT
COUNTRY FX FX FX
RIC DAILY % YTD % INDEX STOCK STOCK
S S YTD
DAILY %
%
Japan -0.35 -1.36 1.7
China >
India +0.11 -1.88 Indonesia +0.27 -1.27 Malaysia +0.07 +0.37 Philippines +0.16 -0.57 1.08 5.71
S.Korea >
Singapore +0.03 +0.14 0.33 3.86
Taiwan +0.07 -0.53 Thailand -0.51 +0.29 (Reporting by Nichiket Sunil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Harikrishnan Nair)
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