* Indonesia, Malaysia see foreign outflows
* Singapore bucks the trend
* Others down on profit taking
Jan 24 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian
stock markets slid on Wednesday as foreigner investors took profits after last week's
rally, but Singapore rose to a three-month high on earning hopes.
Regional analysts said investors were still
awaiting developments on the European debt crisis after governments and private
bond holders failing to come to an agreement on a restructuring of Greece's
debt on Tuesday.
Indonesia lost 0.8 percent, the Philippines fell
0.9 percent, Thailand closed 0.7 percent weaker,
and Malaysia slid 0.2 percent.
"There is still a lot of uncertainty
about the Greece debt (restructuring) talks. There is no progress yet,"
said Teerada Charnyingyong, a strategist with broker Phillip Securities in Bangkok.
Jakarta saw foreign outflows of $34.9 million
and Kuala Lumpur saw 5.8 billion net foreign selling.
Markets rose last week due to improved
sentiment following solid euro zone sovereign debt sales and positive earnings
from U.S. banks that seemed to confirm the U.S. economy was back on a recovery
track.
Jakarta and Manila fell due to profit taking
on Wednesday led by banks and communication shares respectively, while Bangkok
eased on a technical correction after the index neared overbought levels, and
as the Bank of Thailand cut the interest rate by 25 basis points as expected.
Singapore, bucking the trend, jumped 1.5
percent to its highest since Oct. 28 as it resumed trading after a long weekend,
with upbeat earnings from technology bellwether Apple boosting sentiment.
"Apple's earnings has a positive impact
on markets today. It's good news as demand for technology products still seem strong,
indicating consumer demand is still firm," said Carey Wong, an investment
analyst at OCBC Investment Research.
Shares in Singapore rig builder Sembcorp
Marine Ltd ended 3.6 percent firmer after an industry publication quoting
Goldman Sachs and Nomura said the rig builder had won an order for a drillship
from a Brazilian firm. Shares of Singapore-listed Chinese firm Ying Li International
Real Estate Ltd surged 11.9 percent after a brokerage stoked expectations that
China may relax some property curbs, helping in a re-rating of the stock,
traders said.
Singapore is the region's top performer so far
this year with a 9.3 percent gain followed by the Philippines.
In Jakarta, analysts were bullish on the
outlook of the bourse after the last week's credit upgrade to investment status.
"Consumer goods, property and
infrastructure will be favorite sectors because of double investment
grade," Teddy Dwitama, an analyst at Jakarta-based OSK Nusadana Research
said.
"It (investment grade) will push FDI and
have trickle down effect to infrastructure and property demand. As for consumer
goods, we have increasing domestic demand due to domestic growth."
Trade in Indonesian shipping company PT
Berlian Laju Tanker Tbk was suspended on Wednesday in Jakarta and Singapore,
pending an announcement on its debt. Thailand's Siam Cement Pcl said on Wednesday
it was interested in buying a stake in a cement maker in Vietnam and expected
to spend less than 10 billion baht ($315 million) on the acquisition.
The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific
shares outside Japan was up 0.6 percent at 0959 GMT.
(Additional reporting by Andjarsari
Paramaditha in Jakarta and Singapore bureau; Editing by Kim Coghill)
By Shihar Aneez
Reuters
Business & Investment Opportunities
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