Most Southeast Asian stock markets posted small gains on Friday, with foreign buying helping push Philippine shares to a record high, amid optimism about profits as the earnings season gets under way. Share markets pulled back on the week, however, failing to pass multi-year highs set the week before, and dealers said investors were waiting for details of a second round of quantitative easing in the United States, probably in November.
-- Inflows return to Manila, Jakarta late in the week
-- Thai turnover falls amid concern about controls
Singapore hovered below a 29-month high, Malaysia came off a 33-month high and Indonesia moved below a record high, while Thailand failed to get past the 1,000 mark, which was within sight last week for the first time since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. The Philippines rose 0.89 percent on the day to mark a new all-time high, with a weekly gain of 1.7 percent, Southeast Asia's best performer. It will be shut on Monday along with Thailand, with both set to resume trading on Tuesday.
Asian shares eased, with the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan down 0.05 percent at 1002 GMT, trimming some of the losses suffered earlier in the day. Manila logged $5.3 million in inflows on the day, after $25.9 million net selling over four sessions, while Indonesia racked up inflows of $36.57 million in two sessions to Friday, trimming outflows for the week to $96.1 million.
Thailand recorded net outflows of $51.6 million in the week, snapping two straight weeks of net inflows of $529 million. In Bangkok, No 2 mobile operator Total Access Communication rose 2.5 percent before it reported after the market close an 88 percent surge in quarterly earnings. Its Singapore-listed Total Access was unchanged.
Manila Electric Co climbed 3.3 percent as the country's largest power retailer raised its 2010 guidance on core earnings by 4.5 percent after net income rose 61 percent over the first nine months of the year. In Bangkok, turnover fell close to a one-month low of $992 million amid worries about possible additional measures to deal with the rise in the baht.
The baht eased a little on the day as the market watched statements coming out of a G20 meeting in South Korea. The baht has gained around 2.5 percent in the past month and more than 11 percent this year, making it the second-strongest Asian currency after the yen. Several markets moved out of overbought terrain, with Indonesia's 14-day relative strength index (RSI) at 68.05 at the close on Friday from last week's close of 72.6, and the Thai SET index at 66, down from last week's 72.6.