Southeast Asian stock markets ended mostly lower on Monday, after a range-bound session, with Philippine shares bucking the trend as large cap stocks such as Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) rose on hopes of better earnings. The Philippine benchmark stock index rose 0.9 percent to its highest close in six weeks, led by a 4.9 percent gain by top telecoms firm PLDT, which was also the most actively traded.
The outlook for Philippine companies' earnings was attractive, including telecoms, conglomerates and power firms, said Oliver Plana, head of sales at AsiaSec Equities Inc in Manila. "The domestic market increasingly got good foreign buying interest. It is because of good macro numbers and the profit expectation has gone up," he said. Overall, the emerging region's investors remained wary of persistent fears about Europe's debt crisis and fresh concerns about global economic growth. Malaysia ended flat, climbing at one point to an intraday record high of 1,611.50.