Stocks in Thailand and Vietnam drifted lower and Philippine shares posted slight gains on Monday amid thin trade and profit taking, but demand for dividend-yielding stocks helped telecom shares outperform. Stock markets in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia were closed for Boxing Day. US, European and some Asian markets including Hong Kong were also shut.
The Thai benchmark SET index eased 0.5 percent to around one-week low while Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange index was down 0.99 percent to the lowest in more than two years.
The Philippines index was up 0.34 percent, hovering around its highest in more than one month. It racked up a 4.43 percent gain this year, Asia's best performer, ahead of a 2.5 percent climb for Indonesia.
Brokers in the region expected easing fund inflows this week as New Year holidays approached.
"A lot of people are still in a holiday mode right now and a lot of foreign funds are absent today," said Manila-based Oliver Plana, head of sales at AsiaSec Equities Inc. Manila took in a tiny $6 million inflows on Monday, Thomson Reuters data showed.
"The optimism for next year is based on the hope that the Philippines will get a credit ratings upgrade, so that has underlined the interests of foreign funds into local equities market," Plana added.
Hopes for good dividend returns have bolstered buying in shares in telecom firm Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co, with the stock edging up 0.24 percent on Monday. It had risen 5.7 percent in December. In Bangkok, late profit taking pulled shares in Thai telecoms group Shin Corp Pcl 0.6 percent lower. The stock gained 1.2 percent at one point after it announced a special dividend of 2.34 baht a share.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japanese and Indian stocks outperformed the rest of Asia in thin trade on Monday, with sentiment partly lifted by signs of US economic recovery. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan slipped from a two-week high touched earlier in the day to trade down 0.1 percent.