ASEAN stock markets have struggled to keep pace with their North Asian peers, with the MSCI ASEAN index underperforming the broader Asia ex-Japan benchmark by more than 10% this year. Yet performance across the region has been sharply divided, with Thailand and Singapore leading while Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines lag behind. We examine what's driving these differences, the impact of foreign fund outflows, why Malaysia's strong economic fundamentals have yet to translate into stock market gains, and whether ASEAN can attract investors beyond the AI-driven rally in North Asia.

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