Southeast Asian Stocks-Vietnam slides, Singapore picks up
By Ovais Subhani
SINGAPORE, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stocks were mixed on Thursday, with Vietnam adding to sharp losses this week while Singapore was led higher by battered shares such as ST Engineering (STEG.SI) and Noble Group (NOBG.SI).
Singapore's Straits Times Index .FTSTI rose 0.92 percent, its biggest single-day gain this week. Indonesian stocks .JKSE also rose 1.67 percent.
Malaysian stocks .KLSE fell 1.38 percent, the Philippine main index .PSI lost 0.16 percent and Vietnam's main index .VNI slid 4.6 percent. The Thai stock market .SETI was closed for a holiday and will resume trade on Friday.
Singapore's ST Engineering rose 4.4 percent. The city-state's main weapons maker and aircraft repair firm announced several orders earlier this week during the Singapore Airshow worth a total of S$434 million.
Commodities firm Noble Group rose 2.1 percent ahaead of its fourth-quarter result on Tuesday. Prices for oil CLc1, platinum XPT= and gold XAU= have all hit record highs this week [COM/WRAP].
Shipbuilding firm Cosco Singapore (COSC.SI) jumped 2.6 percent. Cosco, controlled by China's biggest shipping firm, said on Thursday after the market closed that its full-year 2007 profit rose 64 percent due to robust business at its shipyards. [ID:nSIN169266]
Kim Eng Securities analyst Rohan Suppiah said investors should take advantage of the recent selloff in COSCO shares.
"We maintain our very positive outlook for Cosco, where we expect 3-year earnings growth of over 40 percent a year. This is reinforced by its orderbook in excess of $6.5 billion over this period, while having the capacity to take on more jobs," he said.
In Vietnam, the stock index dropped more than four percent for the third time this week as investors worried about rising inflation.
Vietnam's annual inflation was estimated to have hit 14.1 percent in January, the fastest rate in more than a decade, pushed up by soaring costs of housing and food.
However, economists say economic fundamentals remain strong.
"There is increased nervousness among local traders about inflation, even though the overall positive Vietnam story has not changed," one trader in Ho Chi Minh City said. "Foreigners are holding, even adding where they can."
Sacombank STB.HM, Vietnam's sixth-largest lender and its largest listed firm, led losses with a 4.5 percent drop.
Vinamilk VNM.HM, Vietnam's top dairy firm, fell 4.8 percent.
Traders said declines were also caused by a State Bank of Vietnam decision to issue 20.3 trillion dong ($1.26 billion) in compulsory Treasury bills at a coupon of 7.8 percent effective March 17, reducing liquidity.
The Vietnam Index .VNI has fallen 13 percent this week. The smaller over-the-counter Hanoi Securities Trading Center .HASTCI closed down 7.5 percent, and has lost 16 percent this week.
In Malaysia, losses were led by builder Gamuda Bhd (GAMU.KL), which dropped 15.7 percent.
The firm said on Thursday that its managing director sold 70 million shares in the company for "estate-planning purposes" and remained very optimistic about Gamuda's prospects. (Additional reporting by Grant McCool, editing by Neil Chatterjee)
