BANGKOK, Sept 7 — Indonesian shares posted small gains today and the index marked a fresh all-time high ahead of long holidays, but other bourses in the region ended mostly flat to weaker amid caution over the global economy.

Southeast Asian bourses took a breather after a recent climb to multi-year highs, triggered by a recovery in regional economies.

“There was profit-taking across the board in Asia in the absence of indicators from stocks in the US, which was closed on Monday,” said Warut Siwasariyanon, head of research at Finansia Syrus Securities in Bangkok.

The MSCI index of Asian stocks outside Japan shed 0.27 per cent but has still risen nearly 5 per cent this month as strong growth in the region offset to some extent concerns about weakness in major developed economies.

Meanwhile, futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.2 to 0.7 per cent, pointing to a weaker start on Wall Street today.

Indonesia’s benchmark index finished 0.43 per cent higher. Foreign investors poured US$166 million (RM519 million) into the market in the shortened week ahead of long holidays starting tomorrow.

Trading resumes next tomorrow.

The Jakarta bourse, Asia’s second-best performer this year, has racked up inflows of US$1.62 billion so far this year, already topping the US$936 million of full-year 2009, data by Thomson Reuters shows.

The index’s biggest firm by market capitalisation, car seller PT Astra International Tbk, rose 2.1 per cent and PT Bank Danamon Indonesia Tbk, the country’s sixth-largest lender, jumped 4.7 per cent.

Singapore edged up 0.05 per cent, at one point hitting a one-month high, but Malaysia inched down 0.03 per cent, retreating for a third session from a 2-1/2-year high, and Thai stocks dropped 0.8 per cent, ending an eight-day winning streak.

The Philippines gained 0.8 per cent, extending its gains into a sixth session and hovering near its highest in almost three years. Vietnam lost 1.2 per cent, ending a run of six positive sessions.

Major indexes in the region were in overbought terrain.

The Thai SET index’s 14-day relative strength index (RSI) was at 78.34 at the close today, ahead of Malaysia’s 77.43, the Philippines’ 76.33, Indonesia’s 70.5 and Singapore’s 69.47.

An RSI level of 70 and higher indicates the market is overbought.

In Bangkok, the market was weighed down by losses in big energy and petrochemical shares, with the biggest energy firm PTT Pcl, which went ex-dividend, and industrial conglomerate Siam Cement Pcl both falling over 3 per cent.

Analysts said the shares may have been unsettled by reports that local residents were not happy with a court ruling last week that lifted a ban on most of the projects that had been halted by environmental concerns at the huge Map Ta Phut industrial estate.

They have threatened a blockade of the estate on Sept. 30.   

Thailand, Asia’s third-best performer this year, has gained US$424 million of inflows over seven sessions to yesterday. Foreign investors were net sellers of shares worth 509 million baht (US$16.4 million) today. — Reuters