Sliding oil prices shook up Southeast Asia’s markets Wednesday as Thailand overtook Malaysia as home to the region’s second-biggest stock exchange by market capitalization.

Oil’s decline of nearly 60% in six months has hit exporters such as Malaysia particularly hard, putting pressure on government finances and on companies that derive their revenue from exporting the commodity. At the same time, net importers like Thailand have made gains.

“In short, a drop in oil price penalizes oil producing countries and helps oil importing ones,” said Olivier d’Assier, Asia managing director of risk consultant Axioma. “Since global growth is in doubt, investors are very sensitive to small changes in macroeconomic conditions so the comparison between the two countries is even more impactful,” he said.

The total market capitalization of all companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand was around US$466.8 billion at market close on Wednesday, compared with US$466.7 billion for those listed on Bursa Malaysia, according to statistics from both exchanges. Singapore is still by far the largest in the region, with a total market capitalization of about US$800 billion.

The impact of oil’s plunge on Thailand and Malaysia is part of a global ripple effect that has shaken up markets from Russia to the U.S. and has prompted central banks such as Singapore’s to make hasty changes to policy.

So far this year, Malaysia’s main stock index has risen 2% compared with Thailand’s 6.4% gain. Since oil began falling in mid-2014, oil producers such as SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd. have been badly hit. Although SapuraKencana has regained some ground this year, it stock has dropped more than 30% in the past six months.

A divergence in the countries’ currencies also has helped Thailand’s stock market overtake Malaysia’s, in U.S. dollar terms. Against the U.S. dollar, Thailand’s baht has strengthened 0.9% to 32.62 baht per dollar this year, while Malaysia’s ringgit has weakened as much as 3.8%, trading late Thursday at 3.63 ringgit per dollar.

“Thailand will be one of the clearest beneficiaries from low oil prices, it’s one of the most oil intensive emerging market economies with oil consumption at about 12% of gross domestic product,” said Alex Wolf, emerging markets economist at Standard Life Investments. “The sharp drop in prices is allowing the government to cut fuel subsidies and free up additional fiscal space for infrastructure programs.”

In Malaysia it is the opposite story. Last week the government announced a revised 2015 budget, which included higher estimates for budget deficits this year and cuts to spending. Much of the pressure is a direct impact from falling oil prices -- petroleum receipts accounted for about 30% of government revenue in 2013. Petroliam Nasional Bhd., the country’s state-owned oil and gas giant, contributes about $10 billion each year to the national budget and is Malaysia’s sole Fortune 500 company.

“All the factors point to a negative environment for growth, in our view,” Credit Suisse said in a note. “Every 10% drop in oil prices cuts growth by around 0.2 percentage points by our estimates,” the bank said.