Southeast Asian stock posted limited gains on Tuesday as relief over an outline French bank agreement on Greek debt helped revive sentiment and investors bought sectors seen as beneficiaries of domestic consumption, like banking stocks. The mild market rebound came amid light volume, with average market turnover in the region falling to 0.8 times the 30-day average.
Late selling pulled the main Philippine index off four-week highs to end nearly flat and the Singapore index finished a tad higher, erasing early gains, with Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia eking out small gains. Bucking the trend, Vietnam fell 0.5 percent to three-week lows after a small 0.2 percent rise on Monday.
The MSCI index of Asian stocks outside Japan had inched up 0.15 percent by 1047 GMT. France offered a radical solution on Monday for banks to roll over some Greek debt for 30 years as the Greek government fought for political support of its five-year austerity plan to avert bankruptcy.
For all the volatility, Malaysia and Indonesia were among markets squeezing out gains in the first half, in part buoyed by demand for the consumer sector. The MSCI index of Malaysia had risen 3.1 percent so far this year and the MSCI index of Indonesia had gained 3.6 percent, against a 2.8 percent loss for Asian stocks outside Japan.
Indonesia gained a mild $7.2 million in inflows on Tuesday, outpacing $12 million worth of outflows of the Philippines, according to Thomson Reuters data. Foreign investors sold $43 million worth of Thai stocks on Tuesday, the exchange said, amid political uncertainty ahead of the Sunday poll and the formation of a new government.
The Thai market has suffered $1.58 billion in outflows since the start of May. During the same period, Indonesia gained $325 million and Philippines $352 million in inflows, according to Thomson Reuters data. Standard Chartered Global Research said Thai inflows might resume after the election, but that political concerns and global risk aversion could delay investment decisions.
Consumer shares were among actively traded stocks in Jakarta, led by a 2.6 percent rise in Indonesian food firm PT Charoen Pokphand Indonesia and a 0.8 percent gain in main vehicle distributor Astra International. Thai banks outperformed on expectations of strong loan growth for the second quarter and earnings. State-run Krung Thai Bank and Siam Commercial Bank, both likely to report favourable results, each climbed over 2 percent.