Southeast Asian stocks fall

Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Friday on growing doubts that European leaders will be able to forge a credible scheme to contain the eurozone's debt crisis at a summit in Brussels. Major share markets extended their weaknesses for a second session, turning to losses on the week, as confidence flagged in the European Union's ability to resolve the crisis before it inflicts further damage on the global economy.
Singapore's Straits Times Index dropped 1.2 percent, Malaysia's benchmark index slid 0.9 percent, Jakarta's Composite Index eased 0.6 percent and the Philippine main index lost 0.5 percent, all falling to around one-week lows. ---- Singapore's property shares extend losses on tightening measures
---- Thailand in light volume ahead of 3-day weekend
Thailand's benchmark SET index was down 0.9 percent. The Thai market is shut on Monday for a public holiday, reopening on Tuesday. Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange index fell for a fourth session, down 1.2 percent at its lowest in more than two weeks. The emerging Asian region snapped last week's gains, led by a 2.5 percent weekly loss for Singapore, which is seen as one of the most exposed economies in the regional to external shocks.
The brunt of selling in Singapore this week, however, was largely fuelled by domestic stresses, after the government announced fresh steps on Wednesday to cool the property market. A key real estate sub-index fell twice as much on the week as the main index. Leading developers CapitaLand Ltd and Keppel Land Ltd both tumbled nearly 3 percent on Friday alone.
Bangkok-based Capital Nomura Securities strategist Chai Chirasevenupraphund said developments in the eurozone debt crisis would strongly influence Thai market sentiment in coming sessions. "It's still a trading market for Thai stocks. We see some corrections in big caps because of mild selling by foreign funds after their recent buying," he said. Baring Asset Management expects markets to remain volatile next, depending on how policymakers in Europe and the United States behave.
Hong Kong-based SooHai Lim, an investment manager at the $326 million Baring ASEAN Frontiers Fund, is overweight on Indonesia and Thailand, saying their resilient domestic economies that should weather the external slowdown. Elsewhere in regional markets, Indonesian coal miner PT Garda Tujuh Buana Tbk jumped as much as 24 percent on Friday after the Jakarta stock exchange lifted a month-long suspension on the stock. The Philippines reported net foreign buying of $30 million on Friday, on top of $124 million of the last seven days, Thomson Reuters data showed.