Stock Meltdown Turns Spotlight on China and Malaysia Markets

This week’s upheaval in global equities is prompting investors in Asian stocks to turn their attention to markets where their ownership has been falling in recent years, with China and Malaysia fitting the bill.

While the S&P 500 Index has declined 2.8% since last Friday’s poor US jobs data triggered the selloff, Malaysia’s and China’s benchmarks have both lost less than half of that. Societe Generale SA, Invesco Hong Kong Ltd. and UBS Group AG are among those touting China’s attractiveness while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. this week upgraded Malaysian shares, citing the market’s defensive nature when it comes to external shocks.