SINGAPORE: Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Monday with Thailand closing at a record high, tracking gains in broader Asia after Wall Street extended its record-setting run.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 percent, having finally cleared the former all-time top of 591.50 from late 2007.
Wall Street was on a roll on Friday as the fourth-quarter earnings season kicked off with solid results from banks and robust retail sales, driving investor optimism about economic growth.
“US markets have had their strongest year-to-date gains in more than 10 years, so that’s having a positive spillover to Asian markets,” said Joel Ng, an analyst with KGI Securities in Singapore.
Thailand’s SET Index rose as much as 1.1 percent to an all-time high before finishing 0.7 percent higher, with energy and industrial stocks leading the gains.
Oil and gas firm PTT PCL climbed 3 percent to a record, while Airports of Thailand added 2.5 percent.
Vietnam shares rose 1.3 percent to their highest close since November 2007, on the back of gains in financials and real estate.
Vietcom Bank and Vingroup JSC climbed 3.5 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively, to all-time closing highs.
Singapore shares climbed 0.5 percent to their highest close since April 2015 with financials accounting for majority of the gains.
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd and United Overseas Bank Ltd rose 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively, to record closing levels.
Philippine shares added 0.5 percent, helped by real estate and industrial stocks.
Index heavyweight SM Investments Corp rose 1.1
percent, while Ayala Corp gained 1.9 percent to its highest close since early November 2017.
Indonesian shares closed slightly higher, supported by gains in financial and energy stocks.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange reopened for the afternoon session after about a dozen people were injured in a floor collapse earlier in the day.
Bank Negara was the top boost to the index with a gain of 2.4 percent, while Unilever Indonesia added 0.7 percent.
Indonesia posted a trade deficit of $270 million in December in its second month of deficit booked in 2017. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a surplus of $640 million.
Source: Brecorder.com
