Indonesia's benchmark hit an over 13-month closing high on Thursday as foreign inflows sent large-caps soaring, but caution remained over the outcome of Wednesday's presidential election. Jakarta's composite index ended up 1.5 percent, erasing some of its earlier 2.8 percent intra-day gain, as both Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and ex-general Prabowo Subianto declared themselves the election winner.
Despite the uncertainty, investors appeared to be preparing for the probability of a win for Widodo, who is perceived to be more market-friendly. "We do not wait until the official outcome is out to confirm the Jokowi victory as normally margin of error from quick count results are 0.5-1 percent," broker Ciptadana Securities said in a report.
The market saw net foreign inflows worth 4.2 trillion rupiah ($363 million), the biggest daily inflow in almost four months, while the rupiah hit a seven-week high. Foreign investors bought large-caps such as Bank Mandiri and Semen Indonesia while shares linked to Prabowo, such as coal miner Bumi Resources and media arm Visi Media Asia fell. Other Southeast Asian markets mostly rose after the Federal Reserve indicated it was in no rush to begin raising interest rates.
The Thai SET index extended its gain for an eleventh day to its highest close in thirteen months. Banking shares such as Siam Commercial Bank were among those actively traded ahead of April-June earnings results due from next week. The benchmark ended the week up 1.5 percent, notching up a fourth week of gains. HSBC raised Thailand to 'overweight' from 'underweight', saying that political risk has subsided as the military-led government restores confidence, including spending powers and setting up an economic committee to prioritise development.
"We think consensus has been too pessimistic in cutting corporate earnings," HSBC Global Research said in its equity strategy third quarter 2014 report. The Thai stock market will be closed on Friday for a public holiday and will resume on Monday.
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