SE Asia Stocks-Singapore firms; telecoms weigh on Philippine index
By Chris Thomas
Dec 11 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets edged
higher on Monday, with Singapore building on steep gains in the
previous session, while the Philippines slipped as competition
concerns weighed on telecom shares.
Asian stocks firmed, with MSCI's broadest index of
Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.2
percent, hovering above a recent two-month low amid optimism
about global growth after the strong U.S payrolls data on
Friday.
"Asian currencies have been trading higher compared with the
U.S. dollar for the past several weeks, so there's anticipation
that Asian equities will be preferred over other markets,
particularly those in the West," said Manny Cruz, an analyst
with Asiasec Equities Inc in Manila.
Singapore shares rose as much as 0.7 percent, on
course to extend Friday's 1.1 percent gain.
Shares of United Overseas Bank Ltd rose as much as
2.6 percent, their biggest intraday spike in over seven months.
The city-state's top taxi operator ComfortDelGro Corp
was the best performer on the index, climbing as much
as 4.7 percent after it said on Friday it would buy a 51 percent
stake in a unit of Uber .
Meanwhile, the Philippine index fell as much as 0.3
percent, with a drop in telecom stocks overshadowing a Fitch
Ratings upgrade to the country's credit rating.
Fitch upgraded Philippines' credit rating to 'BBB' from
'BBB-', citing the nation's "strong and consistent"
macroeconomic performance and sound policies supporting high and
sustainable growth rates.
Telecom stocks weighed on the index, with top operators PLDT
Inc and Globe Telecom Inc falling as much as 4
percent and 1.9 percent, respectively, after the government
indicated a Chinese company could enter the telecom market.
Officials of the Philippine government said on Sunday that
China Telecom Corp could become the nation's third
telecoms player, as the government looks to stir up competition
in an effort to boost notoriously poor services.
Indonesian shares rose as much as 0.4 percent to
their highest in over a week, ahead of October's retail sales
data due later in the day.
Conglomerate Astra International Tbk was the
biggest boost to the index, up as much as 1.5 percent.
Shares on the Vietnam index dropped as much as 1.5
percent to their lowest in over two weeks, as the financial and
industrial sectors fell.
For Asian Companies click;
SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS: Change at 0346 GMT
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3445.38 3424.64 0.61
Bangkok 1706.52 1703.37 0.18
Manila 8292.31 8304.7 -0.15
Jakarta 6033.82 6030.958 0.05
Kuala Lumpur 1721.36 1721.25 0.01
Ho Chi Minh 931.82 940.16 -0.89
Change on year
Market Current End 2016 Pct Move
Singapore 3445.38 2880.76 19.60
Bangkok 1706.52 1542.94 10.60
Manila 8292.31 6840.64 21.22
Jakarta 6033.82 5296.711 13.92
Kuala Lumpur 1721.36 1641.73 4.85
Ho Chi Minh 931.82 664.87 40.15
(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha
Gayathri)
