Southeast Asia Stocks: Higher amid selective buying in reporting season
BANGKOK, July 30 – Southeast Asian stock indexes closed higher today, with Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines rising to their highest close in more than one week as investors hunted for bargains in large caps and financial shares in a reporting season.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 1.14 per cent, with casino operator Genting Singapore Pcl surging 7.4 per cent, rebounding after a combined loss of 13.8 per cent so far in the month to Friday.
Jakarta’s Composite Index edged up 0.37 per cent, building on a 2.3 per cent gain in the past three sessions while the Philippine index gained 1.1 per cent after Friday’s 1.3 per cent rise.
Among the bright spots in the region, Bank Mandiri, Indonesia’s biggest lender, jumped 2.6 per cent before it reported after market close that its second-quarter net profit rose 48 per cent from a year ago. – Reuters
