Indonesian shares rose 1.6% on Monday, driven by gains in consumer stocks on the likelihood of a higher palm oil import quota from China, while the Stoc Exchange of Thailand index closed unchanged.
China is open to increasing its import quota for Indonesian palm oil by at least 500,000 tonnes, Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday.
This drove consumer stocks, according to Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia Pacific Oanda.
Indonesia is the world's biggest producer of palm oil.
The Jakarta SE Composite Index, which has been the second worst performer so far this year, snapped two consecutive sessions of decline and posted its sharpest gain in three-and-a-half months.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's economy grew 5.06% on an annual basis in the first quarter, weaker than the previous quarter's 5.19% and a Reuters poll forecast of 5.18%.
The Indonesian finance minister said the first-quarter growth was a "positive" development, as investment grew more than 7% from a year earlier while exports increased 6%.
An index of Indonesia's 45 most liquid stocks gained 2.3%.
The SET index closed almost unchanged at 1,779.80, in trade worth 44.92 billion baht.
Among other Southeast Asian stock markets which gained, Vietnam jumped 3.45%, the most since mid-February.
Financials were the top performers with Vietcombank rising 5.3% to a two-week closing high.
Malaysian stocks closed 0.7% lower, largely pulled down by financials. CIMB Group Holdings ended 1.5% lower, extending losses into a fifth session, while Malayan Banking Bhd dropped 0.8%.
Philippine shares slipped 0.2% to their lowest close in more than two weeks. Security Bank Corp was the biggest drag with a drop of 2.7%.
Singapore shares fell 0.4% to their lowest close in nearly three weeks. Index heavy-weight Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp declined 3.5% after the lender posted quarterly profit below estimates.
|
Southeast Asian stock markets |
|
||
|
|
Current |
Previous |
% change |
|
Thailand |
1,779.80 |
1,779.87 |
0.00 |
|
Indonesia |
5,885.09 |
5,792.34 |
+1.60 |
|
Malaysia |
1,828.20 |
1,841.83 |
-0.74 |
|
Philippines |
7,533.28 |
7,546.19 |
-0.17 |
|
Singapore |
3,532.86 |
3,545.38 |
-0.35 |
|
Vietnam |
1,062.26 |
1,026.80 |
+3.45 |
