Southeast Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday, with Indonesian stocks outperforming the region despite foreign outflow as investors bought beaten down shares after the sell off early this week. Some markets were upbeat over Wednesday's gains on Wall Street on strong US housing data and dovish statements from a top Federal Reserve official, but investors were still cautious and awaited US jobless claims and durable goods numbers due later in the day for cues.
The Jakarta Composite Index ended 0.5 percent up, recovering from its lowest close since September 16, despite selling from foreign investors, who offloaded a net $46.19 million worth of shares. "The market is lacking new sentiment, but the decline in the past few days is giving investors opportunities to enter the market," said Reza Priyambada, head of research at Woori Korindo Securities Indonesia.
Financials led the overall gain with Banks Central Asia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia adding 3.2 percent and 1.7 percent respectively. Priyambada said a stable rupiah also supported positive sentiment. Thailand's SET index surrendered its early gains to end steady at a 16-month closing high, with foreign investors buying $74.30 million worth of shares on Thursday.
Analysts however said investors were optimistic of Thailand's economic growth prospect. Thailand's central bank will release revised economic projections on Friday and the market expects it to keep the country's 2014 GDP growth forecast under 2 percent and announce a higher growth estimate for the next year. Other Southeast Asian markets traded mixed. Malaysian shares closed 0.2 percent firmer despite $39.12 million outflow, while the Philippines ended 0.8 percent weaker, though foreign investors bought $7.43 million worth of shares. Vietnam's benchmark VN Index, which fell dropped below the key 600-mark in the morning session, recovered to end 0.3 percent higher.