Malaysia bears the brunt of currency weakness

Bank Negara Malaysia's Governor Zeti has said this week that the ringgit's depreciation is 'manageable', that there is no need for a peg to the dollar, and that the central bank would seek to rebuild FX reserves. Currencies in Taiwan and Indonesia have also come under pressure. 

"In Malaysia, even against the backdrop of better economic data, with a strong Q2 GDP print causing us to raise our 2015 growth forecast 50bp to 5.0%, the MYR depreciated almost 4% against the USD this week, and is down 14% YTD", says Barclays.

While Taiwan's central bank relaxed some macroprudential measures for the housing market, this is more likely a response to weaker growth than to market volatility.