Southeast Asia Stocks: Singapore, Malaysia rebound; Thai stocks fall on foreign selling

Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Tuesday, with key indexes in Singapore and Malaysia snapping a two-session losing streak amid gains in select energy and telecoms shares, but the Thai benchmark extended losses to a near two-year closing low. Singapore's key index added 0.3 percent amid active buying in Sembcorp Marine with a recovery in oil prices. The Malaysian index advanced 0.9 percent amid active buying in Axiata Group after an acquisition plan.
A tepid recovery in oil prices from 11-year lows also lifted world stock markets on Tuesday. The broader SET index fell for a third session, down 0.2 percent at 1,261.66, the lowest close since January 2014. Foreign investors offloaded a net 5.9 billion baht ($163.62 million) of equities, their 12th straight session of selling, exchange data showed.
Late selling hit Thai banking shares such as Kasikornbank , while telecoms shares including Jasmine International fell further amid concerns related to high bidding prices of the fourth-generation spectrum licences. The Philippine index hit a near three-week closing high, while Indonesia rose for a second day, with trading volumes below the 30-day average in a holiday-shortened trading week. Vietnam was a tad lower, erasing early gains.