Southeast Asian stock markets were mostly steady to weaker on Thursday as short term players quickly booked profits amid weaknesses in Asia and nagging concerns over the eurozone debt crisis. Doubts remained over how much of the funds that banks raised from an inaugural long-term European Central Bank tender would actually flow into struggling eurozone economies, pulling Asian shares broadly lower on Thursday.
Singapore's Straits Times Index ended down 0.32 percent. It was capped in negative terrain throughout the session, reversing Wednesday's 2.3 percent surge to one-week high. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3 percent by 0843 GMT. Other sharemarkets were choppy in a very tight range, with stocks in the Philippines and Indonesia ending flat and Malaysia finishing 0.4 percent higher.
Vietnam's main index dropped 2 percent to the lowest since May 2009. The Thai SET index was trading down 0.3 percent by 0900 GMT. Turnover was drying up across the region as Christmas and year-end holidays approached. In Bangkok, cash-rich domestic institutions bought shares to meet demand at the end of the year for retirement mutual funds (RMF) and long-term equity funds (LTF) that offer tax breaks.
Global sentiment remained fragile but funds adopted a "stock picking" strategy to make good returns, according to Yernyong Thepjumnong, equity fund manager of Krung Thai Asset Management in Bangkok. "Markets are still cautious of events in Europe. The euro zone issues will continue to be global challenges next year, but, if you look at companies, there are many good firms that look healthy," he said. Among losers, Singapore lender DBS Group Holdings Ltd fell 1.6 percent after Wednesday's 3.9 percent rise and Thailand's PTT Global Chemical Pcl eased 1.2 percent, reversing a 2.5 percent climb on the previous session.