BANGKOK, Feb 5: Southeast Asian stock markets snapped recent gains in range-bound trade on Thursday, with the Philippine main index reversing from the previous day’s record close as a fall in crude prices overnight triggered selling in recently-rallying energy shares.
Oil-related stocks led the losers. Shares of Philippine Petron Corp slipped 1.4 percent, Singapore’s Sembcorp Marine dropped 2.6 percent and Malaysia’s Sapurakencana Petroleum’s eased 0.7 percent.
Oil prices rose on Thursday, rallying a little after big losses in the previous session, after China took steps to pour fresh liquidity into the world’s second-biggest economy to spur activity.
Markets could see small losses after China’s central bank made a system-wide cut to bank reserve requirements to tackle economic slowdown and looming deflation, according to brokers in the region.
“On the positive side, China announced that it will cut Reserve Requirement Ratio by 50 basis points to boost bank lending, which is positive to China’s economic outlook,” strategists at KGI Securities in Bangkok wrote in a report. Bangkok’s key SET index was down 0.08 percent, dragged by large-cap energy stocks. Top energy firm PTT and energy explorer PTT Exploration and Production both fell more than 2 percent. The Philippine main index edged down 0.4 percent, after a 1.4 percent gain on Wednesday to 7,716.06, its eighth record close this year.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 0.4 percent,after a 0.3 percent rise on the prior trading day. Malaysia was a tad lower after marking its biggest single-day gain in more than six weeks on Wednesday.
Indonesia fell after hitting a near two-week closing high in the previous session.
Shares in PT Bank Mandiri Tbk dropped 0.9 percent after parliament rejected a government proposal for the lender to receive a 5.6 trillion rupiah ($443 million) capital injection. Bucking the trend, Vietnam rose for a second session, adding about 1 percent.
(AGENCIES)
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