Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Monday in active trade, led by Singapore, on concern about the global economic outlook after Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit rating of the United States. Singapore ended 3.7 percent weaker at a 13-month closing low, recovering only a little from a 4.9 percent fall at one stage, while Indonesia closed 1.8 percent lower after tumbling as much as 5.2 percent.
Malaysia ended 1.8 percent down and Thailand fell 1.4 percent. "Investors are not sure what this downgrade really means to the United States and the global economy," said Song Seng Wun, a Singapore-based regional economist at CIMB-GK Research. Trading volumes in Singapore and Malaysia were more than double their 30-day average, and Jakarta saw a 1.65 times its average.
Thailand's top oil firm, PTT, and affiliate PTT Chemical fell 2.4 percent and 1.6 percent respectively while Indonesia's top miner, Bumi Resources, slumped 5.1 percent. Despite the gloom and risk aversion, the Philippines saw a net foreign inflow of $38.4 million, but offshore investors offloaded $144.8 million of shares in Indonesia and Thailand saw an outflow of about $178 million, according to bourse data. "This is the time to turn to fundamental valuations.
There are a handful of undervalued blue chip stocks that are promising for a higher gain in the future," Said Yasmin Soulisa, an analyst at Jakarta-based Analyst Bapindo Bumi Sekuritas. The Singapore market fell in strong volume ahead of a national holiday on Tuesday, with many investors preferring to cut risky positions since they would be unable to do so on Tuesday if the global jitters got worse.
The index closed at 2,884 on Monday.
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