Southeast Asian markets soar

Southeast Asian stock markets edged higher on Friday as investors bought stocks expected to benefit from domestic consumption but resource shares pulled back as the weak global economic outlook depressed commodities. Risk appetite appeared weak, with market turnover falling short of the 30-day average.
Indonesia and the Philippines were outperformers, climbing to two-week highs on the day and posting gains for the week after a two-week losing streak. Indonesia rose 3.4 percent on the week, Southeast Asia's best performer, marginally higher than the Philippines' 3.3 percent.
"Weak commodities eased concerns about inflation and somewhat helped the region resume its uptrend, on top of hopes for a Greek deal," said Warut Siwasariyanon, head of research at Finansia Syrus Securities in Bangkok, referring to international backing for a Greek austerity package.
Singapore shares gained 0.7 percent on Friday, Malaysia edged up 0.09 percent and Thai stocks rose 0.9 percent, inching up 0.4 percent on the week after four weeks of losses. The Thai market's 8 percent pull-back from a 15-year peak in late April has come amid rising political tension in the run-up to a July 3 general election and analysts expect the weakness to persist until after the election and the formation of a new government.
On the week, Thailand suffered another $205 million in foreign outflows, raising total outflows to $1.46 billion since the start of May, the stock exchange said. Indonesia, recently a darling of emerging market investors, took in $227 million of foreign money on the week, adding to the $238 million in inflows last week, while $0.7 million flowed out of the Philippines after $4.9 million came in last week, Thomson Reuters data showed.
Elsewhere in Asia, Chinese stocks led equity markets higher on Friday on hopes inflation would ease soon, although the euro's overnight rally fizzled, Greece's deal with international lenders seen as only a short-term fix for a long-term crisis. Consumer shares led gains in Indonesia, with its main vehicle distributor, Astra International, climbing 1.8 percent, extending its gains this week to a one-month high.
Miners were actively traded in the Philippines and sector leader Philex Mining Corp surged 9.4 percent to a record high. Philex estimates its $1 billion Boyongan-Bayugo copper-gold prospect in southern Surigao province contained 5 billion pounds of copper and 9 million ounces of gold. Thai banks rose as favourable loan growth in May boosted hopes for strong second-quarter earnings. The biggest lender, Bangkok Bank, pushed up 1.35 percent. Energy and commodities were among losers on Friday. Thailand's biggest refiner, Thai Oil, eased 0.7 percent, and the world's largest listed palm oil firm, Wilmar International, dropped 0.9 percent.