SoutheastE Asia Stocks: Thailand, Indonesia underperform in negative 2015 year

Most Southeast Asian stock markets hit multi-week highs on Wednesday as end-year portfolio buying lifted select shares in holiday-thinned trade, marginally trimming losses on the year for underperformers Thailand and Indonesia. Bangkok's key SET index ended 0.3 percent higher at 1,288.02, the highest close since December 17, but fell 14 percent on the year, among Southeast Asia's laggards.
Domestic institutions led buyers as valuations of Thai shares have come down to an undemanding level. According to broker Phillip Securities, the SET trades at a forward earnings multiple of 13, well below its historical average. The Jakarta composite index was up 0.5 percent, its highest close since November 26. The Indonesian market posted a 12 percent drop in 2015, nearly halving gains from 2014 when, along with the Philippines, it was among the two best performers in the region.
Thailand and Indonesia will be closed on Thursday and Friday for the New Year holiday. Stocks in Malaysia ended at the highest level since October 27, while Vietnam, the region's best performer so far in 2015, closed at its highest since November 27. Singapore pared midsession losses to end 0.09 percent lower. Most Southeast Asian markets underperformed the rest of Asia this year as foreign investors fled the region, with the US Federal Reserve's first interest rate hike in nearly a decade this month among key concerns.