Most South East Asian stocks fall

Most Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Monday in thin volume, pulling Singapore shares to a one-month low, with tensions on the Korean peninsula reinforcing the risk-averse mood seen in recent weeks. The region traded in negative territory for most of the session but some early losses were trimmed when South Korea's military drill in a disputed area ended without any retaliatory action from Pyongyang.
Singapore's Straits Times Index finished down 0.6 percent, Malaysia's main share index eased 0.3 percent, Thailand's SET index lost 1.6 percent and Indonesia's stock index fell 0.4 percent. Vietnam's main share index dropped 1.4 percent but the Philippines gained 0.5 percent. "We're more affected by external factors as the region re-focussed on the Korean issue. We're also not seeing a lot of activity because of the Christmas season," said a Singapore-based trader.
Volume in most Southeast Asian stock markets fell short of their average volume over 90 days, with Thai turnover less than half its average. Jakarta recorded outflows worth $6.4 million after $349 million of foreign selling last week but Manila saw inflows of $97.4 million on top of $883 million last week, Thomson Reuters data showed. Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT), the country's most valuable listed firm, provided the biggest boost to the Philippine index as fund managers bought the big-cap for window dressing, said a Manila-based stock dealer.
Across the region, financial big-caps were among losers, with Singapore's DBS Group, Southeast Asia's biggest lender, down 0.7 percent, Bangkok Bank falling 2 percent and Indonesia's Bank Rakyat dropping 2.4 percent. Most Southeast Asian stock indexes have fallen from highs set in early November and have underperformed other Asian markets in December, led by a 0.12 percent loss in MSCI Indonesia against a 3.7 percent gain for MSCI Asia ex-Japan.
Broker Credit Suisse advised investors to buy Asian high-dividend stocks. "Going into the year-end, we believe lingering concerns over euro zone sovereign debt problems and uncertainties over China's monetary tightening are likely to offer a convenient excuse for investors to lock in trading profits and offload risk exposure before the financial year closes," it said in a research note. "We recommend that investors take advantage of the short-term tactical pullback to add positions in our recommended Asian high-yielding stocks," it said. Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, which lost 0.4 percent, and developer CapitaLand Ltd, which gained 0.3 percent, were on its buy list.