Southeast Asian stocks rose on Thursday, regaining lost ground in active trade as hopes for a eurozone fiscal bail-out revived global sentiment, and appetite for palm oil shares rose due to the price outlook in the sector. The main Philippine share index surged 3.7 percent to its highest since November 25.
The Manila market suffered losses of more than 7 percent in November, when it was Southeast Asia's worst performer. "It's a reaction to the US market last night. There's still no big issues on the domestic front," said Manila-based analyst Erwin Balita at SB Equities Inc. "Right now foreign money is coming in again. The size is quite significant and a bit of a recovery after November's tumble."
Manila logged $28.4 million in inflows on the day, the largest in five weeks, while Jakarta recorded $86.9 million worth of foreign buying, the biggest in more than two months. The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan was up 1.5 percent by 0947 GMT after hitting a two-month low on Monday. Singapore's Staits Times Index ended up 0.5 percent and Malaysia's main share index climbed 1.2 percent, both hovering at their highest in more than a week.
Thailand's SET index rose 1.4 percent, Indonesia jumped 2 percent and Vietnam was up 1.7 percent, trading at its highest in more than three weeks. Investors piled into palm planters in the region as Malaysian palm oil futures hit a 28-month high, tracking firmer global commodity markets, where there were concerns about low production during the monsoon season.
Singapore's Indofood Agri Resources Ltd jumped 4.4 percent, Malaysia's Sime Darby rose 2.3 percent and Indonesia's Astra Agro Lestari Tbk jumped 1.2 percent. Financials gained across the region, with Malaysia's CIMB Group Holdings up 1.6 percent and Indonesia's Bank Rakyat Indonesia up 3.2 percent. In Bangkok, a surprise interest rate rise by the Bank of Thailand boosted the outlook for interest margins at commercial banks, pushing leader Bangkok Bank up more than 2 percent.
Manulife Asset Management (Thailand) said earnings of Thai listed firms could expand by 15 percent per year over the next three years on the back of a strong economic recovery and set a target of 1,200 for the index by the end of next year, against 1,031.97 at the close on Thursday. Among bright spot in the region, Manila Electric rose 2.8 percent to its highest in almost a week, with volume on the day jumping six times above its 30-day average, making it the most active stock on the Manila stock exchange. The stock tumbled almost 20 percent in November.