Southeast Asian stock markets struggled and ended mixed on Tuesday, as a possible US interest rate hike next month weighed on investor sentiment. Singapore shares gained 0.7 percent, Malaysia added 0.4 percent, closing at its highest since November 9. The Jakarta Composite Index added 0.1 percent, although foreign investors sold Indonesian shares worth of $23.8 million.
Vietnam's benchmark VN Index underperformed the region and fell 1 percent to hit a more than one-month low, dragged down by 3.2 percent loss in Vinamilk. Thai shares fell 0.7 percent, led by telecommunications stocks after Fitch Ratings agency said Thai telecommunications industry will remain under pressure next year. Advanced Info Service Pcl (AIS), Thailand's largest mobile operator, fell 1.9 percent, while Thailand's largest full-service telecommunications company True Corp lost 4.4 percent. Vietnam's benchmark VN Index ended down 1.03 percent on Tuesday at 593.83 points, the lowest since October 21, dragged by Vinamilk in robust trade.
Shares of all the country's top 10 listed firms headed south, including dairy products maker Vinamilk, Vietnam's biggest company by market value, that fell 3.15 percent. Lender Vietcombank also dropped 1.07 percent. The index, Southeast Asia's best performer so far this year, posted the strongest drop since September 3, with volume hitting 169.7 million shares, well above the five-day average of 141.9 million, Reuters data showed. Analysts forecast the index to decline further if investors further sell VNM shares to take profits.
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