By Yvonne Cheong
SINGAPORE, March 24 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian markets
ended mostly higher on Monday with Singapore leading gains on
optimism that the end of the U.S. credit crisis is in sight and
as lower oil prices lifted blue chips such as Singapore
Airlines (SIAL.SI).
Singapore's benchmark index .FTSTI climbed 3.64 percent
higher, while the Philippines' index .PSI rose 1.77 percent
and Malaysia .KLSE moved 1.01 percent higher.
Indonesian stocks .JKSE edged up 0.68 percent and Thai
shares .SETI inched 0.49 percent higher, but Vietnam .VNI
bucked the trend to slip 4.51 percent.
Analysts said the rally in Singapore was due to growing
optimism that the worst of subprime writedowns may be over,
helped by a report of JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) upping its Bear
Stearns offer by five times [ID:nN24303135].
"Sentiment is recovering. A lot of people think a bottom
may be forming for financial stocks in the U.S. and Asia
ex-Japan, as price-book ratios really look attractive," said
Leslie Phang, head of investments at Schroders Private Clients.
Banking stocks in the region rode on the rally, with
Singapore's DBS (DBSM.SI) up 5.3 percent, UOB (UOBH.SI) rising
3.2 percent and OCBC (OCBC.SI) closing 1.4 percent higher.
Thailand's top lender Bangkok Bank BBL.BK and
fourth-ranked Kasikornbank KBAN.BK both rose 2.3 percent,
while Malaysia's Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings BUCM.KL gained
3.7 percent.
Other analysts believed the election outcome in Taiwan was
also a factor in the rally.
"The Taiwan story is a big thing for the whole region,"
said Christoffer Moltke-Leth, head of sales trading at Saxo
Capital Markets.
He said the victory by Nationalist Party candidate Ma
Ying-jeou, who favours closer trade ties and political dialogue
with China, will benefit the region's shipping lines, airlines
and even manufacturing companies.
A pullback in crude oil prices CLc1 also lifted the
region's airlines. Singapore Airlines gained 3.7 percent, while
Malaysia Airlines (MASM.KL) rose by 3 percent.
Singapore Air also said it will raise fuel surcharges by up
to 15 percent.
Rebounding strongly in Singapore were property plays with
CapitaLand (CATL.SI) jumping 7.4 percent, City Developments
(CTDM.SI) surging 7.1 percent and Keppel Land (KLAN.SI) gaining
5.1 percent.
Bourse operator Singapore Exchange (SGXL.SI) also bounced
back from recent losses to gain 7.8 percent.
"I actually think that market-wise, we are pretty close to
the bottom, and it's time to start buying now," said
Moltke-Leth.
However, Vietnamese shares fell for the seventh day in a
row to close at a 16-month low as recent government plans to
buy stocks failed to boost investor confidence.
(Additional reporting by Kevin Lim, Editing by Neil
Chatterjee)
