Indonesian shares ended two days of gains on Thursday as local investors led selling in rallying shares such as Semen Indonesia and Bank Tabungan Negara, but steady inflows since last week's elections reflected a broader positive sentiment. The vote count so far suggests Jakarta's populist governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is leading in the presidential election while the official result is due out on July 22.
Jakarta's benchmark composite index fell 0.8 percent, reversing from Wednesday's rise to the highest in more than 13 months. Foreign investors bought shares for a sixth consecutive day on Thursday, with net purchases worth 530.2 billion rupiah ($45.4 million), taking their net buying in six days to 9.18 trillion rupiah ($786 million), Thomson Reuters data showed.
The market had seen a drop in foreign inflows in June and early July, before the elections. The Thai SET index hit the highest close in more than 13 months as foreign inflows continued for a seventh straight session. Shares of Kasikornbank and Bangkok Bank remained unchanged ahead of their quarterly results. After market close, Kasikornbank posted April-June net profit of 11.7 billion baht, close to expectations, while Bangkok Bank reported net profit of 9.03 billion baht for the quarter, slightly higher than expected. Other Southeast Asian stock markets were little changed, in line with broader Asia.