Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose in line with Asia on Wednesday, with Philippine shares climbing almost three percent on foreign-led buying and the Thai index hitting a two-week high, helped by banking shares. The Philippine composite index ended up 2.6 percent, recovering from a deep oversold condition seen on the previous two days, with its 14-day Relative Strength Index at 36.6 at close. The level of 30 or below means shares are oversold.
Shares of top index gainer San Miguel Corp surged 15.4 percent after the conglomerate said it was interested in acquiring SABMiller PLC's Grolsch and Peroni beer brands. Gains in banks led by Kasikornbank and Siam Commercial Bank sent the SET index 1.9 percent up to 1,278.61, the highest close since December 30. The share rally came ahead of bank earnings releases due out by next week.
Stocks in Singapore and Malaysia posted modest gains while Vietnam retreated amid selling in bluechips. Fund flows were mixed, with the Philippines reporting net foreign buying for the first time in four days of 250 million peso ($5.27 million), stock exchange data showed. Malaysia saw a fifth straight day of foreign outflows, worth a net 71 million ringgit ($16.23 million) on Wednesday, and Indonesia posted net foreign selling of 47.5 billion rupiah ($3.44 million) after net buying on Tuesday, data showed. Asian shares as measured by MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan were up 1.3 percent.