SE Asia Stocks-Largely down on fresh Trump worries; Vietnam hits 9-yr high
By Sandhya Sampath
March 22 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets fell
on Wednesday, taking cues from a selloff on Wall Street as
investors are increasingly worried that U.S. President Donald
Trump will struggle to deliver promised pro-growth policies,
including financial deregulation.
Investors see the Trump administration's struggles to push
through the healthcare overhaul as a sign that he may also face
setbacks delivering promised corporate tax cuts.
"Everything is down with the surprise 200 point drop in
America," said Joseph Roxas, president of Manila-based Eagle
Equities Inc, adding that the U.S. market was "really
overbought" and due for a "big correction".
"Everything will be down for today, probably not to the same
degree as the United States. We will probably recover faster. My
feeling is that emerging-market stocks will gather more interest
in the meantime or going forward."
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
fell as much as 1.5 percent, in its biggest
intraday percentage fall since Dec. 15, 2016.
In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
ended 1.1 percent lower, while the S&P 500 lost
1.2 percent.
Singapore shares fell as much as 1.3 percent and were
headed for a third straight session of declines, with losses
being broad-based.
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding declined by 3.5 percent,
making it the biggest loser on the index, while Sembcorp
Industries Ltd dropped 2.2 percent.
Philippine shares fell up to 1.2 percent, dragged
down by financial and consumer stocks with property developer
Ayala Land Inc shedding 2.5 percent and SM Investments
Corp declining 1.4 percent.
Thailand shares recovered from early falls to trade
0.3 percent lower.
The country's customs-cleared exports data contracted, but
the drop was smaller than expected and the government was still
optimistic about the trade outlook.
Bucking the trend, Vietnam gained as much as 0.6
percent to its highest in over nine years.
Gains were led by financials and consumer staples, with
Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Viet Nam
gaining 0.5 percent.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS: CHANGE AT 0412 GMT
Market Current Previous Close Pct Move
Singapore 3121.65 3158.57 -1.17
Bangkok 1564.85 1568.78 -0.25
Manila 7237.79 7323.31 -1.17
Jakarta 5507.595 5543.093 -0.64
Kuala Lumpur 1739.38 1754.67 -0.87
Ho Chi Minh 719.84 716.18 0.51
Change on year
Market Current End 2016 Pct Move
Singapore 3121.65 2880.76 8.36
Bangkok 1564.85 1542.94 1.42
Manila 7237.79 6840.64 5.8
Jakarta 5507.595 5296.711 3.98
Kuala Lumpur 1739.38 1641.73 5.95
Ho Chi Minh 719.84 664.87 8.3
(Reporting by Sandhya Sampath; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)