BANGKOK: Several Southeast Asian stock markets posted a small rise on Wednesday thanks to gains in selected sectors such as palm oil and coal mining, although poor economic data from the United States added to the caution caused by recent volatility in commodities.
In the background were other bearish factors, including-growing talk of a Greek debt restructuring and uncertainty about the price of oil.
"Our three-month outlook is for equities to move sideways or down," said Tey Tze Ming, a market strategist at Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore.
"There are lots of headwinds for equities. Last months PMI data worldwide pointed to a slowdown in the second half of 2011.
Inflation is still a concern and this will spur central banks, especially in emerging markets, to continue to tighten, which will impact company earnings," Ming said.
Stocks in Indonesia and the Philippines outperformed, climbing around 1 percent. Indonesia's main stock index hit a two-week high at one point, led by a 4.4 percent jump in Adaro Energy the second-biggest coal miner, because of the outlook for strong coal demand.
Indonesia was among six major emerging economies expected to post strong economic growth by 2025, a World Bank study on Tuesday predicted.
Singapore and Malaysia eked out smaller gains. Bucking the trend, Vietnam fell 2 percent and Thailand dropped 0.8 percent to 1,075.91, Asia's worst performers on the day.
The Thai drop came in weak trading volume, however, with turnover falling to 0.77 times its 30-day average. Others in the region traded above the average.
Technical signs point to a weaker trend for the Thai SET index, with the 50-day moving average support level at 1,050 in the near term, according to Ming of Saxo Capital.
Asian shares in general rose from a six-week low on Wednesday, led by consumer stocks, but disappointing U.S. data has made some investors reluctant to follow commodity prices higher.
By 0951 GMT, MSCI's index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan had risen 0.75 percent and MSCI's index of Southeast Asia 0.66 percent.
Regional palm oil shares tracked palm oil futures in Malaysia higher. Singapore-listed Golden Agri-Resources jumped 3.7 percent and Malaysia's second largest palm company, IOI Corp , gained 2.3 percent.
In Singapore, coal miner Straits Asia Resources rose 6.1 percent on hopes it would benefit from growing demand for coal because of tight supply after floods in Australia earlier this year disrupted production.
Among bright spots in Bangkok, investors picked shares that were added to MSCI's index in its semi-annual review, which takes effect after the market close on May 31. The highlight was a 3.4 percent gain in airport operator Airports of Thailand.
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