SE Asia Stocks-Most rise; Malaysia posts biggest weekly drop in 2017
By Karthika Suresh Namboothiri
Nov 17 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets ended
higher on Friday after a strong overnight finish by Wall Street
along with robust local economic data helped fuel investor
confidence in the region.
Wall Street's main indexes rose sharply overnight on
positive earnings from Wal-Mart and Cisco, and
after a broad package of tax cuts sought by President Donald
Trump passed its first hurdle.
In Southeast Asia, Singapore shares ended 1.2 percent
higher, snapping five consecutive sessions of declines, boosted
by financials, as the city-state posted better-than-expected
non-oil domestic exports in October.
"I think the past two days were mainly due to profit-taking
going to the year-end. So, it was the fundamentals from
Singapore that gave a more optimistic outlook for equities,"
said Joel Ng, an analyst from Singapore-based KGI Securities.
Lender DBS Group Holdings climbed 3.4 percent,
contributing the most to the index and making it the biggest
percentage gainer.
Malaysian shares closed 0.2 percent higher after
data showed that the country's economy grew 6.2 percent in the
third quarter from a year earlier, recording its fastest growth
since the second quarter of 2014.
However, Southeast Asia's third largest economy saw its
worst week of the year, losing about 1.2 percent.
Indonesian shares hit a record high before trimming
gains to close slightly higher.
The country's central bank on Thursday kept its key policy
rate unchanged, as expected and in line with a goal of
maintaining financial stability at a time when the market
anticipates a U.S. interest rate hike next month.
The Indonesian sub-index comprising 45 most liquid
stocks on the benchmark, finished at a record high.
Philippine shares closed 1.3 percent higher, led by
financials and real estate stocks.
Property developer SM Investments Corp ended 2.6
percent higher, while Ayala Land closed at a one-week
high.
Meanwhile, Vietnam snapped 10 straight sessions of
gains, dragged by financials, but posted its seventh consecutive
weekly gain.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS: CHANGE ON DAY
Market Current Previous Pct Move
close
Singapore 3382.38 3341.3 1.23
Bangkok 1709.38 1691.25 1.07
Manila 8311.08 8206.44 1.28
Jakarta 6051.732 6037.907 0.23
Kuala Lumpur 1721.66 1718.11 0.21
Ho Chi Minh 890.69 892.8 -0.24
Change on year
Market Current End 2016 Pct Move
Singapore 3382.38 2880.76 17.41
Bangkok 1709.38 1542.94 10.79
Manila 8311.08 6840.64 21.50
Jakarta 6051.732 5296.711 14.25
Kuala Lumpur 1721.66 1641.73 4.87
Ho Chi Minh 890.69 664.87 33.96
(Reporting by Karthika Namboothiri in Bengaluru; Editing by
Subhranshu Sahu)