Southeast Asian stocks were lower to flat on Friday except Singapore which recovered from two days of losses as big banks gained, while the Philippine index drifted nearly 2 percent lower to hit its lowest close in 10 days. Asian shares edged up on Friday but were on track for a weekly loss, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.4 percent, though still down 0.5 percent for the week.
The Philippine index closed at its lowest since May 10, dragged down by financials, its biggest constituent. It lost 1.9 percent on the week. BDO Unibank Inc shed 2.9 percent, while Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co was down 1.3 percent. "We advise taking profits on issues still trading at overbought conditions as index correction will most likely drag prices lower," said research firm Regina Capital. Singapore's Straits Times Index recovered after losing 1.3 percent in the previous session on concerns the US Federal Reserve would raise rates as early as June.
The index lost 1.1 percent for the week. "We believe that the higher interest rate expectation has been baked into the market," Carey Wong, a research manager with Singapore-based OCBC Investment Research said. "We are starting to see a rebound in Singapore from early lows, led by banks - the usual beneficiaries of rising interest rates." Financial stocks, the biggest constituent of the index, closed 0.6 percent higher. DBS Group Holdings, Southeast Asia's biggest bank by assets, gained 0.8 percent. Indonesia was flat after government revised down its economic growth assumption for 2017. Vietnam lost 0.7 percent, led down by banks. Thai markets were closed for a public holiday.