BANGKOK, Nov 24 — Southeast Asian stock markets ended mixed today, with Singapore reversing early gains to 15-month highs after broad selling in banks and property while Thai stocks fell to three-week lows amid political concerns.
Singapore’s index eased 0.6 per cent, with DBS Group, Southeast Asia’s biggest bank, sliding 2.4 per cent, United Overseas Bank easing 1.6 per cent and Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp off 2.1 per cent.
Property shares declined even though Singapore’s government said it was holding off further steps to curb speculation for now. City Development slid 3.1 per cent and CapitaLand lost nearly 1 per cent.
The Straits Times Index earlier climbed to its highest level since Aug 15, 2008. “I foresee weakness down the week towards the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States as traders are likely to unwind positions ahead of the long holiday,” a stock dealer in Singapore said.
Thailand dropped 2.1 per cent to its lowest since Nov 4 as the government imposed tough security in Bangkok from Nov 28 to Dec 14 to cope with an anti-government rally starting on Saturday.
Top energy firm PTT fell 3.5 per cent, its exploration flagship PTT Exploration and Production lost 2.3 per cent and Advanced Info Service, the country’s biggest mobile phone operator, declined 4.4 per cent.
“The political matter kept investors cautious,” said Chaiyaporn Nompitakcharoen, head of investment strategy at Bualuang Securities.
“It’s also year-end selling by investment portfolios globally and markets are assessing if the global economic recovery is on track,” he said.
Malaysia inched down 0.1 per cent, with telecoms firm Maxis easing 2.3 per cent while IOI Corp added 1 per cent before it announced after the market close that its quarterly net profit jumped 65 per cent.
Indonesia lost 0.4 per cent as coal miner Bumi Resources dropped 4.6 per cent after it announced another bond issue to finance acquisitions.
Adaro Energy, the country’s biggest coal miner, dropped 2.3 per cent, while Lippo Karawaci lost 3.6 per cent.
The Philippines rose 0.9 per cent to its highest since March 7, 2008, with mining firm Century Peak Metals Holdings surging 10.3 per cent and Philex Mining jumping 4.1 per cent.
Vietnam dropped 1.9 per cent to its lowest since Nov 11, weighed down by a 2.2 per cent loss in construction firm Vinaconex and a 2 per cent fall in Kim Long Securities. — Reuters
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