Thai stocks fell nearly 1 percent on Tuesday and shares in Singapore and Malaysia edged lower as renewed worries about debt problems in Europe curbed investors' appetite for riskier assets. The Thai stock market saw net foreign outflows of around 800 million baht ($26 million) in the morning session, according to broker Phillip Securities strategist Teerada Charnyingyong.
The market posted combined foreign outflows of $160 million in past two sessions to April 12 before a four-day weekend. "The Thai market still has a fairly high concerns about Europe's debt problems, in line with the region. Investors are uncertain of what to do and risk appetite is slowing down," said Teerada of Phillip Securities.
Thailand had seen strong inflows this year, with $2.6 billion of net foreign purchases this year to April 12, according to Thomson Reuters data. Indonesia had $1.2 billion worth of foreign inflows for the same period, with Vietnam's the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange index reporting $23.57 of inflows for the period, data showed. Thailand's benchmark index closed 0.8 percent lower, with Singapore down 0.2 percent and Malaysia slipping 0.1 percent. The Philippines and Indonesia bucked the trend, rising 0.8 percent and 0.3 percent. Vietnam's main index rose 1 percent.