COLOMBO: Thai stocks rose to a four-week high on Tuesday, Dec 7 in thin trade, led by energy shares after a jump in oil prices, and some other Southeast Asian markets saw cautious buying due to guarded optimism about the global economy.
Thailand, the region's second-best performer this year, rose 0.6 percent after a long holiday weekend to its highest since Nov. 10, while late buying helped Singapore gain 0.3 percent, both in thin volume compared to their 90-day average.
The Philippines dropped 0.6 percent from a one-month high in light trade, with foreign outflows of $7.9 million, while Vietnam fell 1 percent from a two-month high. Both Indonesia and Malaysia were closed for holidays.
A compromise deal to extend expiring U.S. tax cuts and hopes for a tough Irish budget encouraged investors to show more interest in risky assets, although the euro zone's debt crisis and speculation over a Chinese interest rate rise kept their enthusiasm in check.
In Thailand, the gains were led by energy shares, notably a 2.5 percent jump in PTT, the biggest energy firm and also the market's heaviest stock, and a 1.5 percent rise in PTT Exploration and Production.
U.S. crude rose above $90 a barrel on Tuesday to its highest in 26 months.
Wikij Tirawannarat, a senior analyst at Capital Nomura Securities in Bangkok, said bargain-hunting by both local and foreign funds helped the market, although euro zone concerns limited the trading volume.
"The euro zone debt issue impacted the market in terms of sentiment and still kept some investors away," said Tirawannarat.
"The recent Thai market correction gave room for investors to hunt for bargains. Several key sectors are trading at a discount to their forecast valuations."
Bangkok enjoyed $67.7 million in net foreign buying on Tuesday after seeing $163.7 million flow in last week, Reuters data showed.
Thailand is trading at 12.5 times this year's projected earnings, below all-Asia's 13.2 and cheaper than most of the other regional markets. Indonesia is trading at 15.2, higher than the 13.9 of Singapore and Malaysia and the Philippines' 13.6, Thomson Reuters StarMine data shows.
Analysts still generally hold a positive outlook on the region, barring risks arising from appreciating currencies due to foreign flows, which have turned around due to the recent euro zone crisis.
In the last four weeks until Friday, the Philippines saw $48 million in foreign outflows, but Indonesia and Thailand suffered net outflows of $256 million and $184 million respectively, data by Nomura Research showed.
In Manila, a 5 percent fall in holding firm Alliance Global and a 4 percent drop in Abolitz Power helped drive the bourse down on Tuesday. - Reuters
Thailand, the region's second-best performer this year, rose 0.6 percent after a long holiday weekend to its highest since Nov. 10, while late buying helped Singapore gain 0.3 percent, both in thin volume compared to their 90-day average.
The Philippines dropped 0.6 percent from a one-month high in light trade, with foreign outflows of $7.9 million, while Vietnam fell 1 percent from a two-month high. Both Indonesia and Malaysia were closed for holidays.
A compromise deal to extend expiring U.S. tax cuts and hopes for a tough Irish budget encouraged investors to show more interest in risky assets, although the euro zone's debt crisis and speculation over a Chinese interest rate rise kept their enthusiasm in check.
In Thailand, the gains were led by energy shares, notably a 2.5 percent jump in PTT, the biggest energy firm and also the market's heaviest stock, and a 1.5 percent rise in PTT Exploration and Production.
U.S. crude rose above $90 a barrel on Tuesday to its highest in 26 months.
Wikij Tirawannarat, a senior analyst at Capital Nomura Securities in Bangkok, said bargain-hunting by both local and foreign funds helped the market, although euro zone concerns limited the trading volume.
"The euro zone debt issue impacted the market in terms of sentiment and still kept some investors away," said Tirawannarat.
"The recent Thai market correction gave room for investors to hunt for bargains. Several key sectors are trading at a discount to their forecast valuations."
Bangkok enjoyed $67.7 million in net foreign buying on Tuesday after seeing $163.7 million flow in last week, Reuters data showed.
Thailand is trading at 12.5 times this year's projected earnings, below all-Asia's 13.2 and cheaper than most of the other regional markets. Indonesia is trading at 15.2, higher than the 13.9 of Singapore and Malaysia and the Philippines' 13.6, Thomson Reuters StarMine data shows.
Analysts still generally hold a positive outlook on the region, barring risks arising from appreciating currencies due to foreign flows, which have turned around due to the recent euro zone crisis.
In the last four weeks until Friday, the Philippines saw $48 million in foreign outflows, but Indonesia and Thailand suffered net outflows of $256 million and $184 million respectively, data by Nomura Research showed.
In Manila, a 5 percent fall in holding firm Alliance Global and a 4 percent drop in Abolitz Power helped drive the bourse down on Tuesday. - Reuters
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