SINGAPORE, Feb 13 – Most Southeast Asian stock markets posted limited gains today following the passage of Greece’s austerity bill and amid selective buying of dividend yielding shares and stocks that have strong earnings prospects.
Market players picked bluechips such as Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, Indonesia’s PT Astra International Tbk and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co, among last week’s beaten-down stocks.
Greece approved a deeply unpopular austerity bill to help secure a second bailout, even as riots in central Athens and violence across the country raised doubts about implementation of the approved spending cuts.
Investors appeared reluctant to buy riskier assets, awaiting further steps needed before the shadow of a debt default can be lifted. Regional indexes were largely capped in range, with turnover for most markets falling short of a 30-day average.
Some brokers said markets remained hopeful the Greece deal could be wrapped up successfully.
“Overall, markets reacted positively to the Greek parliament approval and hopes remained that the deal could be wrapped,” said Pichai Lertsupongkij, head of investment advisory services at broker Thanachart Securities in Bangkok.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index edged up 0.6 per cent, Malaysia’s main index inched up 0.07 per cent, the Thai SET index was 0.4 per cent higher and Jakarta’s Composite Index rose 1.3 per cent.
The Philippine index was up 0.4 per cent. Bucking the trend, Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange index dropped 2.3 per cent amid profit taking.
Most bluechips in the region were attractive despite relatively weak results.
Singapore Telecommunications gained 1.95 per cent after it comforted investors by reiterating a forecast for low single-digit full-year revenue growth in Singapore and stable dividends from its associate firms.
Thai Oil Pcl, Thailand’s largest oil refiner, gained as much as 1.75 per cent to a six-month high after it reported a 48 per cent fall in quarterly net profit that was better than expected and announced a dividend of 2 baht.
Philippine Long Distance was up 0.9 per cent and Indonesia’s PT Astra International Tbk, Indonesia’s leading motorcycle dealer, rose 3 per cent, after falling nearly 10 per cent in the past five sessions.
Among bright spots, Thai banks rose more than 1 per cent to a five-month high after the government said commercial banks will have to pay a levy of 0.47 per cent on deposits, up from 0.4 per cent currently, to help fund the servicing of certain government debt.
By 0950 GMT, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was trading up 0.89 per cent while the MSCI index for Southeast Asia, made up of selected stocks, was trading up 0.94 per cent. – Reuters
