Southeast Asian stock markets were flat to weaker on Monday, but Indonesia outperformed the region as a raft of Chinese data showed the economy slowing while still managing to reassure investors it was not in danger of a hard landing. The Jakarta Composite Index ended 1.1 percent firmer at its highest since October 12, with $19.30 million foreign inflows.
China's better-than-expected GDP numbers have given some support to the Indonesian market, said Muhamad Alfatih, an analyst with Jakarta-based Samuel Sekuritas, but added the index was recovering from last week's 1.47 percent fall. Singapore-based Net Research Asia in an investor note said sentiment continues to be cautiously optimistic. "Earnings announcements to date have not disappointed and expectations are mainly that the Fed will likely delay any interest rate hikes into 2016 given the external economy remains volatile and is likely to have a subdued impact on the US economy," it said.
While China's September-quarter growth data was its weakest since the global financial crisis, it was still better than market expectations - indicating that recent stimulus measures were having an impact. Vietnam rose for a third straight session to close 0.3 percent higher, while Malaysia ended 0.1 percent firmer.