Stocks in the Philippines fell for a second straight day on Wednesday as investors awaited the central bank decision on policy interest rate while Malaysian index hit the lowest close in more than a week ahead of fourth-quarter GDP growth data. The Philippine main index finished down 0.5 percent after an almost 1 percent drop on the previous day.
Interest rate-sensitive stocks were mixed, with property firm Ayala Land up 0.6 percent and Metropolitan Bank & Trust down 2 percent, as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is expected to leave rates unchanged on Thursday. Kuala Lumpur composite index ended the day down 0.7 percent at 1,798.95, the lowest close since January 30, due to losses in energy shares. Tenaga Nasional and Sapurakencana Petroleum each dropped 3 percent.
Sluggish global demand for its exports and weak commodity prices are expected to have dragged Malaysia's economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2014 to its weakest pace in more than a year. The GDP data is due on Thursday. Other markets eked out gains amid selective buying in a reporting season while Asian stock markets turned cautious on Wednesday as looming euro zone meetings to discuss the Greek debt crisis threatened to produce more confusion than clarity.
Thai SET index snapped two sessions of losses, Jakarta composite index recovered from Tuesday's fall, Singapore's Straits Times Index hit the highest close since May 2013 and Vietnam ended at a near two-week high. In Jakarta, shares of PT Bank Mandiri Tbk climbed 1.1 percent to a record closing high of 11,750 rupiah. The bank's Chief Financial Officer told Reuters its 2014 net profit rose 9.2 percent from a year earlier.
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