Indonesian shares eked out small gains on Friday, posting their worst weekly loss in almost three months amid concerns about a likely end to fuel subsidies, while Thai stocks trod water amid selling in recent gainers including construction-related firms.
Indonesia's key index ended up 0.2 percent, led by cement shares such as Indocement and Semen Indonesia. Banks were among losers, with foreign selling sending Bankyat Indonesia to a two-month closing low. The benchmark stock index was down 1.4 percent on the week, the biggest fall since the week ended June 20, amid uncertainty about the direction of fuel prices.
A senior Bank Indonesia official said the country needs to raise fuel prices before March and preferably by the end of 2014 to ease pressure on the current account and let the central bank focus its attention on the weakening economy. Foreign investors were net sellers of Indonesian shares worth 776 billion rupiah ($65.66 million), marking a fourth straight session of offloading, Thomson Reuters data showed. The Thai SET index closed a tad higher on the day and was down 0.2 percent on the week, its first weekly loss in six.
Siam Commercial Bank was among gainers, while cement firm Siam Cement and builders including Italian Thai Development and Ch Karnchang fell amid profit taking, brokers said. Fund flows were mixed across exchanges, with the Thai stock market reporting a net foreign buying of 737 million baht ($22.90 million), Malaysia posting a net foreign selling of 173 million ringgit ($54.13 million) and the Philippines recording net outflows worth 265 million pesos ($6.03 million), stock exchange data showed.