"If there's a tidal wave coming from a credit event in Italy, then it doesn't matter how great your thesis is on Malaysia, the ringgit's going to get blown up, " he says.

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The benchmark stock index rose 1.4% to a record 1776.73 on Tuesday, after surging 3.4% on Monday, while Malaysia's ringgit currency gained 1.9% against the dollar in the first two trading days of the week.

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It paid 1.63 billion ringgit to buy general insurer Kurnia Insurans (Malaysia) Bhd. and took over MBF Cards Sdn Bhd.

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It too is moving more of its production to Malaysia, which it says is cheaper because of the ringgit's low currency peg to the U.S. dollar.

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The Bursa Malaysia KLCI was last up 3.2%, while the ringgit rose to its highest in almost two years against the dollar.

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