Tuesday, 11 August 2015 23:06
BANGKOK: Southeast Asian stocks fell on Tuesday amid fund outflows and weak regional currencies after China devalued the yuan, with Indonesia marking its worst drop in more than three months and Singapore closing at its lowest in nearly 18 months.
The Jakarta composite index was down 2.7 percent, the biggest single-day decline since April. Selling by foreign investors hit shares of Bank Mandiri and Bank Negara Indonesia, among top large-cap losers.
The rupiah fell to a low last seen during the Asian financial crisis 17 years ago while other Southeast Asian currencies hit fresh multi-year lows after China devalued the yuan to support its economy.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index was down 1.4 percent, its lowest close since March 2014. Banking shares were among top losers, led by United Overseas Bank Ltd which dropped 3.2 percent.
The fall came amid talks of heightened selling by foreign funds, broker NRA Capital said in a report.
Foreign investors sold shares worth a net 389 million ringgit ($ 98.23 million) in Malaysia, 585 billion rupiah ($ 43.03 million) in Indonesia and 401.5 million pesos ($ 8.73 million) in the Philippines, stock exchange and Thomson Reuters data showed.
Stocks in Thailand were down almost 1 percent after net outflows worth 1.2 billion baht ($ 33.94 million), stock exchange data showed. The Thai market is closed on Wednesday for a public holiday.
Vietnam’s key index retreated 0.24 percent, coming off a more than one-week high in early trading.
