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Friday May 9, 6:54 PMSE Asian Stocks-Mostly higher on week but Singapore fallsSINGAPORE, May 9 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets gained this week as surging oil prices lifted commodity plays such as Malaysia's Sime Darby , but Singapore fell as financials such as Singapore Exchange floundered.The region's markets closed on Friday mostly flat. Malaysia and the Philippines edged up 0.38 and 0.68 percent on Friday to bring the week's gains to 1.08 and 2.07 percent respectively. Singapore eased 0.31 percent on Friday and Indonesia closed 0.01 percent down, but the Jakarta index gained 1.4 percent for the week, while Singapore's Straits Times slid 2.3 percent. Its losses were outdone only by Vietnam, which fell a further 4.2 percent this week. Thai shares closed 0.41 percent lower despite expectations that energy shares would rise on record oil prices , but top energy firm PTT closed flat. Analysts said global share markets were generally softer over the last week due to to high oil prices. "We expect a renewed bout of weakness over the next few months as credit markets remain difficult," said Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy and Economist at AMP Capital Investors. He said deteriorating global economic conditions will lead to profit downgrades. In Singapore, bourse operator SGX led losses, falling 3 percent to end the week 6.2 percent lower. The exchange also had to deal with complaints over technical glitches. Traders said on Friday they could not see buy and sell orders entered by other dealers for four hours. SGX said it was due to "connectivity issues at the primary telecommunications provider". Bucking the downtrend were commodities firm Noble Group , which rose by as much as 10.6 percent before paring those gains to close up 1.2 percent. The firm said on Thursday its first-quarter earnings nearly quadrupled on strong demand for food, energy and raw materials. Palm oil producer Wilmar International also rose 1.7 percent, while Malaysian plantation giant Sime Darby gained half a percent or 2.2 percent for the week. Banks in Kuala Lumpur also rose after a 25 percent stake in the country's fourth largest lender RHB Capital was sold to Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank . RHB gained half a percent intraday but closed 1 percent down, while top lender Maybank gained 1.3 percent and third ranked Public Bank climbed 1.7 percent. In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamese stocks slid 1.5 percent to close at 500.33 points on Friday, bringing its losses this year to 46 percent, but analysts said it could have been worse. "The index remains above 500 points thanks to foreign investors who saved the market from plunging by pumping in more than 4 trillion dong in ... April," said Bui Ngoc Long, Marketing Director at International Royal Securities. "Investors are expecting room for expansion by foreign investors." (Editing by Neil Chatterjee) |
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