SE Asia Stocks-Hit 2-week lows on fears about economy, earnings

Wed Jul 8, 2009 6:32am EDT
 
[-] Text [+]
 * Down on recovery doubts, quarterly earnings fears
 * Thailand, Singapore, KL hit two-week lows
 * Indonesia closed for presidential election
 By Ploy Chitsomboon
 BANGKOK, July 8 (Reuters) - Some Southeast Asia stock
markets hit two-week lows on Wednesday amid worries about the
global recovery and corporate earnings, with Thailand leading
regional losses after weaker crude oil hurt its heavyweight
energy shares.
 Thai shares .SETI lost 1.3 percent on the first day of
trading after a two-day break. Singapore's Straits Times Index
.FTSTI ended down 0.6 percent after falling to its lowest
level in two weeks, like Malaysia .KLSE, which lost 0.1
percent.
 The Philippine index .PSI slid 0.4 percent, while Vietnam
.VNI shed 0.2 percent.
 Indonesia's .JKSE stock market was closed for the
country's presidential election. Trade will resume on Thursday.
(For more on the election coverage, please click [nIDELECT])
 Analysts said talk that another U.S. stimulus package may
be necessary, coupled with heavy U.S. job losses, has taken the
wind out of a rally in global stocks and commodities, tempering
some of the optimism about how quickly economic growth will
return.
 "Comments overnight that the U.S. economy might need a
second stimulus package, rising unemployment and rising credit
card and mortgage defaults have caused investors to pause and
wait for validation of recent stock market gains," said Kevin
Scully from NRA Capital in Singapore.
 "There are signs of a slowdown in the rate of economic
decline in the U.S., global and even the Singapore economy ...
But what about real consumer demand, the key to a sustained
recovery?"
 The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was down 1.18 percent by 0953 GMT.
 Property blue chips and plantation firms led decliners in
Singapore, with CapitaLand (CATL.SI), Southeast Asia's top
developer, falling 4.8 percent, and number two City
Developments (CTDM.SI) sheding 6.6 percent. Palm oil company
Golden Agri-Resources (GAGR.SI) sank 6.4 percent.
 Oil CLc1 fell for the sixth consecutive day, trading
towards $62 on Wednesday after data showed a
larger-than-expected build-up in U.S. product stocks, pushing
oil and commodity stocks lower.
 PTT (PTT.BK), Thailand's most valuable company by market
capitalisation, dipped 2.9 percent, PTT Exploration and
Production (PTTE.BK) slid about 2 percent and top coal miner
Banpu (BANP.BK) drifted 2.2 percent lower.
 In Malaysia, the world's second-largest palm oil producer
after Indonesia, plantation firms were hardest hit, with Sime
Darby (SIME.KL), the largest planter, down 0.7 percent, IOI
Corp (IOIB.KL) down 1.3 percent and KLK (KLKK.KL) down 0.8
percent.
 Palm oil futures KPOc3 dropped below 2,000 ringgit for
the first time since March 31 after soybean declined and on
concern  that a seasonal increase in production in the second
half would swell stockpiles and push down prices, traders
said.
 ($1=34.10 Baht)
 (Editing by Alan Raybould)













































































 

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