Southeast Asian shares ended flat to lower on Friday tracking weakness in Asian peers after an OPEC-led decision to extend output cut fell short of expectations, triggering a sell-off in energy stocks. At Thursday's meeting in Vienna, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and some non-OPEC producers agreed to extend a pledge to cut production to March 2018 but investors had expected a longer and/or deeper supply cut.
In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.1 percent after closing at a two-year high on Thursday. "The drubbing in crude basically threw a wet blanket over the entire space (Southeast Asia)," said Emmanuel Ng, a strategist at OCBC Bank, Singapore. "Most of our (Southeast Asian) markets have a similar structure in that energy and oil stocks are very big in terms of market-cap contribution to the overall index calculation, so I think the selling pressure in energy stocks is what is weighing down the markets," added Rakpong Chaisuparakul, a strategist with KGI Securities (Thailand).
Singapore shares fell 0.5 percent, snapping three straight days of gains, dragged by financials and industrials, but the index ended the week marginally higher. DBS Group dropped 1.1 percent, while Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd shed one percent. Indonesia ended 0.2 percent higher, led by consumer staples.
Gudang Garam Tbk PT gained 0.9 percent and Sumber Alfaria Trijaya Tbk PT climbed 3.7 percent. However, the index ended the week 1.30 percent lower. Malaysian shares remained largely unchanged with consumer cyclicals, healthcare and energy stocks weighing on the index. Thailand finished flat, ending higher for a second straight week, while the Philippines, down 0.1 percent, snapped two weeks of losses.
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