April 11 (Reuters) – Most Southeast Asian stocks ended down
on Tuesday as geopolitical tensions stemming from Syria and
North Korea continued to hurt risk appetite.
Markets indulged in mixed trading, “taking note of the
recent heightened geopolitical tensions as the U.S. sent a
carrier strike group to Northern Korean Peninsular,”
Singapore-based Net Research Asia said in a note.
The possibility of military action against North Korea in
response to its weapon tests grew after the U.S. missile strikes
against Syria last week in retaliation to a chemical weapons’
attack on civilians.
“Traders mentioned the upcoming French elections, Brexit
negotiations and the G7 meeting as key impediments for markets
in the short term,” Net Research Asia added.
The White House said U.S. President Donald Trump was open to
authorising more strikes on Syria, while pressure is building on
Russia to break its ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
as G7 foreign ministers start efforts to build a united front
against Assad.
Indonesian shares posted their third consecutive
session of declines, with the index of the country’s 45 most
liquid stocks closing down 0.5 percent.
Financials were the biggest losers, with Bank Mandiri
(Persero) Tbk Pt shedding 2.5 percent.
The Philippines reversed early gains to end in
negative territory, pulled down by real estate stocks, with SM
Prime Holdings dropping 2.5 percent.
“Market traded in positive territory for most of today but
was swamped by profit-taking towards close,” RCBC Securities
said in a note.
Bucking the trend, other markets in the region traded
marginally higher.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS: Change on day
Market Current Prev close Pct Move
Singapore 3174.75 3181.45 -0.21
Bangkok 1582.78 1581.19 0.10
Manila 7601.4 7617.91 -0.22
Jakarta 5627.933 5644.299 -0.29
Kuala Lumpur 1735.84 1739.52 -0.21
Ho Chi Minh 731.33 729.87 0.20
Change on year
Market Current End 2016 Pct Move
Singapore 3174.75 2880.76 10.21
Bangkok 1582.78 1542.94 2.58
Manila 7601.4 6840.64 11.1
Jakarta 5627.933 5296.711 6.25
Kuala Lumpur 1735.84 1641.73 5.73
Ho Chi Minh 731.33 664.87 10
(Reporting by Krishna V Kurup in Bengaluru; Additional
reporting by Sindhu Chandrasekaran; Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)
