MARKET DEVELOPMENT
SE Asia Stocks -Mostly up; Jakarta Down on political Concerns
SE Asia Stocks -Mostly up; Jakarta Down on political Concerns
31/10/2014 (Reuters) - Jakarta shares fell on Thursday on political concerns while other Southeast Asian stock markets mostly rose, with some trading range-bound, after the U.S. Federal Reserve expectedly ended its massive quantitative easing programme.
The Jakarta Composite Index lost 0.7 percent after gaining 1.5 percent in the previous session as a vote on Indonesian parliament commission leaders weighed on sentiment.
The opposition dominated the commission's top positions, which led Joko Widodo's coalition to file a motion of no confidence against the house leaders.
"This is negative and unprecedented for Indonesia, creating messiness within the House and political uncertainties for the country," Bahana Securities said in a note.
Bucking the trend in the overall market, shares of Indonesian palm oil companies gained on an expected increase in palm oil prices and strong earnings, traders said.
Shares of PT Astra Agro Lestari Tbk rose as much as 8.2 pct, PT London Sumatra Indonesia Tbk was up 4.8 percent and PT Salim Ivomas Pratama Tbk gained 4.7 percent.
Palm oil prices may have bottomed out and will likely trade between 2,100 and 2,300 ringgit per tonne ($641-$703) in the next few weeks before rising to 2,500 ringgit by March as output weakens and stocks ease, an analyst said.
Thailand's SET index was up 0.2 percent by 0716 GMT, the Philippine index gained 1.1 percent, and Malaysia was 0.1 percent firmer.
Teerada Charnyingyong, a strategist at broker Phillip Securities, said gains were slow after the Fed decision though it was expected.
"Still the signs of economic slowdown persist," she said.
The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday ended its monthly bond purchase program which at its peak pumped $85 billion a month into the financial system. It also signalled confidence the U.S. economic recovery would remain on track despite signs of a slowdown in many parts of the global economy.
Both Singapore and Vietnam traded steady.
SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
The Jakarta Composite Index lost 0.7 percent after gaining 1.5 percent in the previous session as a vote on Indonesian parliament commission leaders weighed on sentiment.
The opposition dominated the commission's top positions, which led Joko Widodo's coalition to file a motion of no confidence against the house leaders.
"This is negative and unprecedented for Indonesia, creating messiness within the House and political uncertainties for the country," Bahana Securities said in a note.
Bucking the trend in the overall market, shares of Indonesian palm oil companies gained on an expected increase in palm oil prices and strong earnings, traders said.
Shares of PT Astra Agro Lestari Tbk rose as much as 8.2 pct, PT London Sumatra Indonesia Tbk was up 4.8 percent and PT Salim Ivomas Pratama Tbk gained 4.7 percent.
Palm oil prices may have bottomed out and will likely trade between 2,100 and 2,300 ringgit per tonne ($641-$703) in the next few weeks before rising to 2,500 ringgit by March as output weakens and stocks ease, an analyst said.
Thailand's SET index was up 0.2 percent by 0716 GMT, the Philippine index gained 1.1 percent, and Malaysia was 0.1 percent firmer.
Teerada Charnyingyong, a strategist at broker Phillip Securities, said gains were slow after the Fed decision though it was expected.
"Still the signs of economic slowdown persist," she said.
The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday ended its monthly bond purchase program which at its peak pumped $85 billion a month into the financial system. It also signalled confidence the U.S. economic recovery would remain on track despite signs of a slowdown in many parts of the global economy.
Both Singapore and Vietnam traded steady.
SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
Change at 0726 GMT
Market Current Prev Close Pct Move
Singapore 3224.90 3224.03 +0.03
Kuala Lumpur 1842.03 1839.55 +0.13
Bangkok 1565.19 1562.67 +0.16
Jakarta 5033.31 5074.06 -0.80
Manila 7170.99 7093.31 +1.10
Ho Chi Minh 591.56 591.20 +0.06