Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Friday, in line with Asian peers as a US holiday helped slow a rally in the dollar that has absorbed capital out of most emerging markets. Foreign investors, who have been selling emerging-market assets on expectations that US President-elect Donald Trump's policies would lead to a rise in interest rates and the dollar, were absent for the Thanksgiving holiday.
"It's mostly locals buying into the markets. I think it (Thanksgiving holiday) opened up trading opportunity for the locals," said Grace Aller, an analyst with AP Securities. The dollar rose to an eight-month high against the yen on Friday as US bond yields resumed their rise in Asia after the Thanksgiving break shut markets in the United States.
Strong US manufacturing and consumer data this week have also bolstered the surge in the dollar. Recent robust data from the United States and China showed that the world's largest economies are doing well. This shows that the major economies are steadying, easing the flow of bad economic data into smaller markets by removing external headwinds, Aller said. Singapore shares rose for a fourth straight session, helped by consumer and financial stocks, and added 0.7 percent this week in their third straight weekly gain. Agribusiness group Wilmar International Ltd climbed 3.76 percent, while DBS Group Holdings Ltd gained 1.5 percent.
Sentiment was also buoyed by the city-state's stronger-than-expected manufacturing growth in October. Thai shares rose for the fourth session in five, led by consumer and healthcare stocks, and posted a weekly gain of 1.8 percent. Malaysian shares rose marginally and logged a weekly gain of 0.2 percent, their first in four weeks. Government data out earlier in the day showed that Malaysia's consumer price index increased 1.4 percent from a year earlier, slightly slower than the previous month's pace. Bucking the trend, Vietnam shares fell for a second session, but gained 0.4 percent for the week.
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