Most Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Friday, tracking weak global peers, as a slew of hawkish comments from central banks signalled that the era of cheap money was coming to an end. Global equities took a hit after the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney surprised many on Wednesday by saying that a rate hike was likely to be needed as the economy came closer to running at full capacity.
"Hawkish central bank rhetoric continued to sustain across major markets as investors anticipated the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) balance sheet unwinding and pushed bond yields higher and weighed on Wall Street overnight," OCBC Bank said in a note.
Most markets in the region ended the quarter with gains, except Thailand which snapped a five-quarter winning streak to end lower. The benchmark index fell 0.02 percent with PTT losing 1.3 percent and Energy Absolute closing 3.5 percent lower.
Singapore shares declined one percent, dragged down by financials. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and United Overseas Bank fell 1.5 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively. The index gained for a fifth consecutive quarter.
Meanwhile, Philippine shares gained for a fourth consecutive month, led by gains in SM Investment of 1.7 percent and BDO Unibank Inc of 2.5 percent.
Vietnam shares rose 0.61 percent with Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Viet Nam and Hoa Phat Group JSC gaining 0.8 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. Indonesia's financial markets were closed on account of a national holiday.
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