U.S. Malaise Spreads to Malaysia's ETFs and Beyond | ETF Trends

Has the economic downturn in the United States finally hit Malaysia and its exchange traded fund (ETF)?

For awhile, the iShares MSCI Malaysia Index (EWM) was one of the few single-country funds exhibiting decent performance despite the woes that seem to have affected other global regions in one way or another. In the last two weeks, though, it’s down 5.5%. Year-to-date, it’s down 2.3%.

What’s going on?

According to Thomson Financial, investors in Malaysia are reacting to, among other things, the recent bad news from Wall Street and the Dow’s loss of more than 300 points on Friday. The mood in Malaysia is expected to remain downbeat because of uncertainty about the general elections, which will take place this Saturday.