Most South East Asian stocks higher

Most major Southeast Asian stock markets gained on Friday as investors sought value stocks after good results and the region stood out in Asia on the week, but volatility in commodities continued to keep players on edge. Turnover for most of the markets hovered well above their average of the past 30 days, led by Indonesia, and most also saw net foreign inflows.
Stocks in Singapore advanced 1.06 percent, with Malaysia and Indonesia posting smaller gains but Thai stocks inching down 0.12 percent in a choppy session and in relatively low volume. Many Thai investors opted to stay on the sidelines ahead of a four-day holiday weekend and as commodities continued volatile. "The uncertainty in the commodities market will continue to be a key factor for the Thai market and this region. That's on top of inflation, which is another concern," said Capital Nomura Securities senior analyst Wikij Tirawannarat.
Rising inflationary pressure has dragged on consumer sentiment in Thailand, helping pull down confidence for a third month in April. For the week, however, the energy-driven Thai stock market gained more than 3 percent, Asia's best performer, ahead of number two Singapore with a 2.1 percent rise and third-ranked Philippines with 1.7 percent. Most Asian equity markets headed for their second week of losses although on Friday MSCI's index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.59 percent by 0938 GMT.
The MSCI index for Southeast Asia rose 1 percent, led by a 1.4 percent rise in the MSCI index for Singapore. Among gainers, Singapore-listed Wilmar International surged 5.1 percent after the world's largest listed palm oil firm said its oilseeds and grains business returned to profit after two quarters of losses, helping it post better-than-expected first-quarter earnings.
Malaysia's top lender, Malayan Banking, climbed 1.3 percent to a one-month high after it reported an 11 percent rise in third-quarter net profit, driven by stronger loan growth. It said it expected its 2011 performance to exceed its record results last year. In Bangkok, early losses in heavyweight energy shares were reversed as US crude oil futures rose more than $1 a barrel to above $100 at one point on Friday. Market leader PTT rose 0.3 percent ahead of results expected after the close.