Most south-east Asian stock markets rose on Friday, with Thailand climbing to a near two-week closing high amid demand from domestic funds while Indonesia hit a two-week closing high on short-covering led by foreign investors. Share markets in the region tracked gains in Asian shares as investors grappled with the prospects of higher US borrowing costs and slower global economic growth.
The Thai SET index ended the day up 0.6 percent at 1,393.84, the highest close since November 10. It ended the week up 0.8 percent, recouping some of the losses made in the previous week. Shares of Airports of Thailand Pcl, the most actively traded, rose for a second day and closed 1.6 percent higher. Domestic institutions bought shares in six successive sessions to Friday worth a net 8.1 billion baht ($226.76 million), stock exchange data showed.
Buying of tax-incentive long-term equity funds (LTFs) and retirement mutual funds (RMFs), often active towards the end of the year, is expected to continue to lift the overall stock market next week, according to several brokers in Bangkok. The Jakarta composite index finished up 0.9 percent, notching up 2 percent gain on the week, the region's best performer. Foreign investors bought a net 145.7 billion rupiah ($10.67 million) after eight straight sessions of selling. Stocks in Malaysia and the Philippines eked out small gains on the week, up 0.2 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. Singapore and Vietnam both posted second straight weekly fall, down 0.3 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.
Comments
Comments are closed.