Stocks in Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam slipped in light trade on Thursday, led by blue-chip stocks such as Axiata Group Bhd and SM Investments Corp, as investors, wary of weak global economy, trimmed risks. Singapore recouped earlier losses, helped by late buying in beaten-down large caps, with the benchmark Straits Times Index ending down 0.04 percent, sliding to a one-month low at one point after three straight sessions of declines.
Among actively traded, DBS Group Holdings edged up 0.2 percent after falling 2.4 percent in the last three sessions. Some bargain hunting emerged amid expectations of good quarterly results by Southeast Asian companies. In Bangkok, energy shares outperformed thanks to strong third quarter (July-September) earnings forecasts, with energy explorer PTT Exploration and Production Pcl up 1.3 percent while the broader SET index up 0.4 percent.
Morgan Stanley expects upbeat third-quarter earnings across Southeast Asian markets. The brokerage expects MSCI Thailand to see the strongest year-on-year earnings growth at 34.6 percent, driven mostly by energy and financial companies, followed by Malaysia at 19.3 percent. Concerns about high valuations have weighed on the region, with investors hunting risk shifting to markets that are exposed to global growth, encouraged by central banks pumping in liquidity.