SE Asia Stocks-Indonesia above 2-week peak after Feb trade surplus
BANGKOK, April 1 (Reuters) - Indonesian shares jumped 2.2
percent on Tuesday, outperforming others in Southeast Asia, as a
better-than-expected monthly trade surplus bolstered sentiment,
boosting demand for cyclical stocks, including banking and
consumer shares.
Heavy buying in shares of Bank Mandiri, Bank
Rakyat Indonesia and Astra International
sent the benchmark Jakarta's Composite Index to 4,873.93
at the close, the highest since March 17.
Indonesia's trade balance reverted to a $790 million surplus
in February, from a $440 million deficit in January, in a sign
the economy is making progress in managing its current-account
deficit.
Thai shares finished up 0.8 percent at 1,387.48, the
highest close since Nov. 20, helped by selective buying in
banking shares such as Kasikornbank in anticipation
of strong earnings for the quarter ended March 31.
The market was nearly flat in early trade due to losses in
large caps such as Siam Cement and Shin Corp
which traded ex dividend.
Political situation remained tense after an anti-government
demonstrator was shot dead and four others injured on Tuesday,
when unidentified gunmen fired on a Bangkok protest march, the
first fatality of the political conflict in several weeks.
Southeast Asian bourses noted inflows on the first trading
day of April, according to Thomson Reuters and stock exchange
data.
Indonesia posted a net foreign buying of 1.87 trillion
rupiah ($164 million), the Philippines reported 277
million peso ($6.18 million) of net inflows and Malaysia
brought in 24.89 million ringgit of net inflows ($7.62 million).
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
Change on day
Market Current Prev Close Pct Move
TR SE Asia Index* 412.51 409.08 +0.84
Singapore 3198.52 3188.62 +0.31
Kuala Lumpur 1847.76 1849.21 -0.08
Bangkok 1387.48 1376.26 +0.82
Jakarta 4873.93 4768.28 +2.22
Manila 6514.72 6428.71 +1.34
Ho Chi Minh 583.85 591.57 -1.31
Change on year
Market Current End 2013 Pct Move
TR SE Asia Index* 412.51 388.37 +6.22
Singapore 3198.52 3167.43 +0.98
Kuala Lumpur 1847.76 1866.96 -1.03
Bangkok 1387.48 1298.71 +6.84
Jakarta 4873.93 4274.18 +14.03
Manila 6514.72 5889.83 +10.61
Ho Chi Minh 583.85 504.63 +15.70
* The Thomson Reuters South East Asia Index is a
highly representative indicator of stocks listed in Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
($1 = 44.8450 Philippine pesos)
($1 = 11360.0000 Indonesian rupiah)
($1 = 3.2655 Malaysian ringgit)
(Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap; Editing by Anand Basu)