Most Southeast Asian stock markets rebounded to end higher on Friday, with the Indonesian benchmark recouping losses on late buying in battered banking shares while domestic mutual funds sent the Thai index above the key 1,500 mark. Jakarta's composite index ended up 0.09 percent on the day, trimming its weekly decline to 2.2 percent, making it the region's worst performer. Shares of Bank Negara Indonesia ended up 0.4 percent after early weakness.
The rupiah, which hit a fresh 17-year low versus the dollar on Friday, prompted investors to cut risky holdings on concerns over its impact on corporate production costs, which could hurt earnings. Bangkok's SET index was up 1.1 percent at 1,507.37, the highest close since May 25. Shares of Airports of Thailand climbed 1.7 percent to their highest in more than three months as an upbeat tourism industry bolstered its earnings outlook, brokers said.
"Shares of many blue-chip firms are underowned as the market has been too pessimistic. The SET index technically passed its bottom and investors took this view to buy again," said senior strategist Viwat Techapoonphol of Tisco Securities. Domestic institutions bought Thai shares in three straight days to Friday worth a combined 5.3 billion baht ($157.18 million), countering net sales by foreign and retail investors, stock exchange data showed.
The SET index posted a weekly gain of 0.8 percent, erasing falls early in the week partly as investors awaited the central bank's interest rate meeting on June 10, with some economists expecting a 25-basis-point cut. Indexes in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines posted a third straight weekly loss, falling 1.7 percent, 0.13 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively. Vietnam outperformed with a weekly gain of 1.5 percent.
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