Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Thursday, with the Philippine benchmark ending off an all-time high and the Malaysian index declining for a second straight day, as investors cut exposures to energy shares with oil prices near six-year lows.
The Philippine main index closed down 0.6 percent after rising to a record high of 7,736.97 earlier in the session following better-than-expected fourth-quarter GDP growth.
The fourth-quarter GDP grew a seasonally adjusted 2.5 percent over the prior three months and an annual 6.9 percent, beating economists' forecasts. Growth for the full-year came in at 6.1 percent. "Strong momentum implied by upbeat 4Q14 GDP and ensuing upgrade in GDP's trajectory bode well for risk asset markets," Citi Research said in a report.
It upgraded 2015 growth outlook to 6.7 percent from 6.3 percent. Among losers, Petron Corp dropped 3.5 percent and Energy Development Corp slipped 2.4 percent amid foreign-led selling, the Philippine bourse said in a report. The Malaysian index was down 0.8 percent after the 0.4 percent loss on Wednesday, with Tenaga Nasional
and Sapurakencana Petroleum among actively traded stocks. Sentiment in the region was broadly weak in line with Asia after the US Federal Reserve took an upbeat view of the world's largest economy and signalled it was on track to raise interest rates this year.