The Stock Exchange of Thailand main index closed lower on Friday, while other Southeast Asian markets mostly rose in thin trading on Friday, as investors hunted for bargains following last month's fall.
The SET main index eased 7.15 points or 0.41% to close at 1,719.82, in trade worth 57.64 billion baht. The index fell 1.2% this week, in its fourth straight weekly drop.
Thailand's annual headline inflation in May rose to its highest in 16 months, but well within the central bank's target range of 1-4%.
In Vietnam, industrials were among the top gainers as factories saw record growth in new export orders last month. Vietjet Aviation climbed nearly 7%, while Vietcombank rose 5.4%.
For the week, Vietnam shares gained 3%, snapping two straight weekly falls.
In the Philippines, real estate and consumer stocks led the gains, with SM Investments Corp up 4.4% and Ayala Land rising 1.9%.
"It's really more of a technical rebound today, as the index broke 7,500 a couple of days ago because of concerns on Italy and local inflation," said Jose Vistan, research head at AB Capital Securities.
Investors also took heart from China A-shares' long-awaited inclusion in MSCI's benchmark market indexes, a step that is expected to boost foreign inflows in the coming months.
For the week, Philippine shares declined 0.2% in their third straight weekly drop.
Malaysian shares rose nearly 1%, extending gains into a second session, buoyed by financials. Malayan Banking rose about 4%.
Singapore shares were little changed, but posted their third straight weekly decline.
Indonesian financial markets were closed for a local holiday.
|
Southeast Asian stock markets |
|
||
|
|
Current |
Previous |
% change |
|
Thailand |
1,719.82 |
1,726.97 |
-0.41 |
|
Indonesia |
|
|
Closed for holiday |
|
Malaysia |
1,756.38 |
1,740.62 |
+0.91 |
|
Philippines |
7,630.26 |
7,497.17 |
+1.78 |
|
Singapore |
3,427.51 |
3,428.18 |
-0.02 |
|
Vietnam |
992.87 |
971.25 |
+2.23 |
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