Indonesian shares notched up an all-time closing high on Tuesday and the Philippine index came off record levels while most other Southeast Asian stock markets ended the day on a positive note after a wary start, tracking gains across broader Asia. The Indonesian index rose 0.7 percent to 6,429.692, buoyed by telecom and consumer staples stocks. Telekomunikasi Indonesia climbed 2.2 percent while cigarette maker Gudang Garam added 2.4 percent.
The Philippine index edged up 0.1 percent, led by consumer stocks and telcos, easing off an earlier peak of 8,969.18. "That (record) level offers strong resistance given that the market has been on a rally since the start of the year," said Jeffrey Lucero, equity research analyst at RCBC Securities.
"The 8,900 level would be hard to break this week, particularly as investors would like to take a wait-and-see position before upcoming corporate earnings," he added. Consumer goods manufacturers Universal Robina Corp and Jollibee Foods led the gains with the latter adding 5.2 percent to hit a record close.
Consumer stocks could benefit from the recent tax reform program which can increase the disposable income of consumers, Lucero added. Singapore stocks reversed earlier losses to end 0.4 percent higher at levels not see since December 2007.
Gains in financials and industrial stocks pushed the city-state's main index higher. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and United Overseas Bank marked record closing levels, having added 0.7 percent and 1 percent respectively.
Thailand's SET Index rose as much as 0.5 percent to an all-time high before closing 0.05 percent higher, propped up by real estate and consumer staples. Berli Jucker and CP All rallied more than 3.5 percent each. Malaysia closed marginally higher while Vietnam bucked the trend to close slightly lower.
Comments
Comments are closed.