SE Asia Stocks-Philippines slides as Duterte's rants dampen sentiment
By Sandhya Sampath
Oct 28 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets were
lower on Friday, in line with broader Asia, led by Philippines
which posted declines for the seventh session in a row as
President Rodrigo Duterte's ongoing rants against the United
States dampened sentiment.
Duterte said on Thursday that his country could join naval
exercises with Japan, but repeated there would be no more war
games with long-time ally United States, and again vented his
anger against Washington.
Investors continue to be cautious about Duterte's foreign
policy after weeks of verbal attacks on the United States,
including threats to end military agreements, and his apparent
overtures towards China.
"The President has been going on a lot of business trips
which is adding on to the investor confidence. But his negative
comments against the U.S. adds to the political noise. Maybe
that is also spurring net foreign selling in our market," said
Victor Felix, an analyst with Manila-based AB Capital
Securities.
Philippine shares declined as much as 1.4 percent,
dragged down by financials and consumer staples, with
conglomerates SM Investments Corp and JG Summit Holdings
Inc losing as much as 1.3 percent and 3.4 percent
respectively.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
slid 0.3 percent.
"Most Asian markets have been slipping today. Oil prices
have been losing momentum. There is no actionable news from OPEC
on whether or not they will have a production cut," Felix added.
Oil prices, though steady, were on track for a weekly loss
of more than 2 percent.
The Singapore Index slipped as much as 0.6 percent to
a near two-week low. DBS Group Holdings Ltd was the
biggest decliner on the financial sector, just ahead of its
third-quarter results, scheduled for next week.
Thai shares dipped as much as 0.3 percent, pulled
down by the energy sector, with gas and petroleum company PTT
PCL falling as much as 1.1 percent.
Indonesia lost as much as 0.2 percent. Bucking the
trend, Vietnam posted a gain of 0.4 percent.
Philippines will be closed on Monday for a special
non-working holiday.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
Change at 0514 GMT
Market Current Previous Close Pct Move
Singapore 2814.8 2867.21 -1.83
Bangkok 1496.99 1498.36 -0.09
Manila 7338.58 7445.14 -1.43
Jakarta 5412.858 5416.836 -0.07
Kuala Lumpur 1669.85 1669.03 0.05
Ho Chi Minh 679.3 676.9 0.35
Change so far this
year
Market Current End prev yr Pct Move
Singapore 2814.8 2882.73 -2.36
Bangkok 1496.99 1288.02 16.22
Manila 7338.58 6952.08 5.56
Jakarta 5412.858 4593.008 17.85
Kuala Lumpur 1669.85 1692.51 -1.34
Ho Chi Minh 679.3 579.03 17.32
(Reporting by Sandhya Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)