Most Southeast Asian stock markets ended flat on Friday in lacklustre trade, as investors held off taking fresh positions on the last trading day of the quarter and ahead of a crucial meeting between the leaders of the United States and China. US President Donald Trump said earlier in the day he had not promised Chinese President Xi Jinping a reprieve from escalating tariffs in a trade war that is casting a shadow on global growth, but felt their talks planned for the next day would be productive.
"With much of the fate of the global economy hanging on the outcome of this weekend, and the likely direction of markets also crucially dependent on the outcome of talks, today has the eerie sense of a slow march to the gallows, listening out hopefully for calls of a reprieve from the prison governor," an ING note said commenting on the G20 and Xi-Trump meeting. The Philippine index fell 0.7% with financials and consumer stocks dragging the index. The index, however, posted its fourth consecutive quarterly gain, rising 1%.
Universal Robina Corp and SM Prime Holdings Inc dropped 4.6% and 2.1%, respectively. Thai stocks traded relatively flat. The country's May current account deficit was $0.38 billion, the first deficit since September 2014, after exports in May contracted 7.2% from a year earlier, after declining 2.9% in April. Vietnam's benchmark recouped some of the losses from the previous session with real estate and consumer stocks boosting the index.
Shares of Vinhomes JSC gained 2.3%, while Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp added 1.1%. The country's economic growth remained strong in the second quarter, backed by robust exports and foreign investment amid the ongoing trade war between Washington and Beijing. Financials drove the Indonesian stocks slightly higher. The index snapped a three-quarter rally and fell 1.7% for the quarter ending June. Indonesia's annual inflation rate is seen slowing in June from a month earlier as prices of goods and services return to normal following the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, a Reuters poll showed.
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