Indonesian stocks climbed to their highest in almost two weeks on Tuesday as investors bought resource shares, and Thai shares also rose, although to a lesser extent as political worries deterred some investors. Manila edged higher, while Singapore and Malaysia remained closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. They will resume trading on Wednesday, but Vietnam is closed for the week.
Indonesia's index rose 1.63 percent to its highest level since February 5, with International Nickel Indonesia, state-owned miner Aneka Tambang and miner Bumi Resources all up around 5 percent. "Commodity and metal prices rebounded and helped sentiment in the resource sector, which was the worst-performing one last week," said a Jakarta-based stock dealer.
"Some of that momentum is continuing and so I expect the market as a whole this week to still in an uptrend. But global issues could drag down overall sentiment, such as Greece, which could default on debt payments." Greece has been given 30 days by its European partners to take tough steps to bring down its spending and budget deficit.
Thai stocks edged up 0.5 percent in holiday-thinned trade. The market remained cautious as Bangkok was on high alert after weekend bomb incidents and ahead of next week's Supreme Court decision on the assets of the family of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
"Political issues remain the top factor in the Thai market. Investors are putting money in other Asian markets as they want to play safe on further political development here," said Warut Siwasariyanon, head of research at Finansia Syrus Securities.
Foreign investors were sellers of Thai shares for a second day on Tuesday, selling a net 318 million baht of stock. Dividend and growth stocks led advancers, with telecoms group Shin Corp 1.7 percent higher and canned tuna firm Thai Union Frozen rising 2.2 percent.
Thai stocks are trading at just 10.24 times estimated 2011 earnings, among the cheapest in Asia, compared with Indonesia's 12.8, Malaysia's 14.9 and the Philippines' 12.6, according to Thomson Reuters data. The Philippine index edged up 0.2 percent, reversing a 0.5 percent fall on Monday. Market outperformers were Ayala Land, Metro Bank and SM Prime Holdings, which each gained more than 2 percent. TKC Steel Corp rose 4 percent. The manufacturer said late on Monday it had appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers Financial Advisors Inc (PwC) as adviser for its plan to raise up to $1 billion in funds.