BANGKOK, December 20 -- Southeast Asian stock markets ended lower on Thursday with energy stocks put pressure on the Stock Exchange of Thailand and Indonesia falling the most. Regional stocks fell in line with broader Asian peers, after the US central bank hiked rates for the fourth time this year and stuck by its plan to keep withdrawing support from an economy it views as strong. "Against the backdrop of the trade war and weak economic data from major economies, people were hoping the Fed would extend a lifeline," said Fio Dejesus, an equity research analyst at RCBC Securities in Manila. "But their mandate was different from what the market hoped for." Recent disappointing data from the United States on slowing of job growth in November and a cooling housing market, along with weak manufacturing data from China heavily weighed on investor sentiment, sparking concerns over global growth. The SET index ended the day at 1,596.10, down 5.02 points or 0.31%, in turnover of 35 billion baht. Thailand's energy-heavy index suffered an additional blow after oil prices resumed their fall on Thursday amid worries of a supply glut and gloomy outlook for demand. Shares of oil and gas explorers PTT Plc and PTT Exploration and Production Plc shedding 0.5 % and 1.7%, respectively. The Indonesian index finished lower and was the worst performer in the region, with financial stocks coming under pressure. Shares of Bank Central Asia Tbk and Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk were among top losers, falling 2.2% and 1.7%, respectively. Singapore's index gave up modest gains early in the session to end lower, with shares of port operator Hutchison Port Holdings Trust losing 1.9% while those of agribusiness operator Wilmar International Ltd ending 1% lower. The Malaysian index edged lower with Sime Darby Plantation Berhad's counter closing 1.4% down, while that of IHH Healthcare Berhad ending 2.6% lower. Vietnam's index traded sideways through most of the session to edge down at close. The Philippine index lost most during early trade but pared losses to inch down at close. Industrial stocks were the biggest drag on the index, with shares of sector heavyweight SM Investments Corp closing 2.1% lower.
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BANGKOK, December 19 -- The Stock Exchange of Thailand index jumped more than 1% on Wednesday after the Bank of Thailand increased its policy rate, while other Southeast Asian stock markets ended mostly higher, as reports of a potential US-China meeting in January boosted sentiment. Investors took heart after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Bloomberg in an interview that the United States and China are planning to hold meetings in January to "document an agreement" on trade. The dispute between the world's two biggest economies threatens businesses throughout the region due to global value chains. "Positive signals on the trade war front are stabilising risk in Asia," Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia-Pacific at OANDA, said in a note. The SET index reversed course during early trade to edge higher, as gains in financial and industrial stocks offset losses in energy companies. The index gained 17.93 points or 1.13%, in turnover of 45 billion baht. The Monetary Policy Committee voted 5-2 to lift its one-day repurchase rate by a quarter-point to 1.75% after keeping the rate unchanged since April 2015. However, caution prevailed ahead of the highly anticipated US Federal Reserve meeting scheduled later on Wednesday amid expectations that their hawkish stance may give way to a "dovish" hike. Philippine shares, the top performers in the region, closed at their highest level in two weeks. Industrial and financial stocks were the biggest boost in the index, with DMCI Holdings Inc ending 6.8% higher, while Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc closed up 5.5%. Singapore stocks ended firmer on the back of financial stocks, while Indonesian shares snapped three straight sessions of declines to close higher. Top performers computer and electronics retailer Global Teleshop Tbk closed 25% firmer, while Bank Agris Tbk ended 24.5% higher. Malaysian stocks ended 1.2% higher, after plumbing near two-year lows in the previous session. Bucking the trend, Vietnamese stocks slipped 0.9% to notch their fifth straight session in the red, with financial stocks being the biggest drag. The slump was due to a technical sell-down, owing to the recent strength that had pushed the index to a level above 960 points, said Bui Nguyen Khoa, head of macro research, BIDV Securities Company. Macro-economic factors and local business remained sound in the country, he said, adding that global downtrend in equities could apply some psychological pressure, pushing the index to about 880 points-900 points where it would stabilise again. Shares in Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade closed 4.9% lower, while Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam lost about 1.3%. Ng Chong Hwa -- a former managing director at the bank -- was charged on four counts relating to abetment of false statements to a financial regulator. "Plead not guilty. Claim trial," a handcuffed and shaven-headed Ng, 46, told the court in a soft tone. He faces at least 40 years in jail if found guilty of all the charges. Earlier Wednesday Malaysia moved to extradite Ng to the United States for his alleged involvement in the 1MDB scam. Washington had requested his extradition in October after bringing three criminal charges against him, including corruption and money-laundering.
Deputy public prosecutor Shukor Abu Bakar told AFP that a legal application has been filed under the extradition treaty between the two countries. Public prosecutor Manoj Kurup later told reporters that there was no conflict between the filing of the US extradition application and the charges against Ng for his involvement in 1MDB transactions arranged by Goldman. "They (the US) had filed charges (against Ng). They can wait for us," he said. The court set March 18, 2019 for mention to fix possible trial dates and offered a bail of $239,205. Meanwhile, Goldman has pledged to fight the charges, insisting it was misled by the former Malaysian government and 1MDB. The alleged offences by Ng -- commonly known as Roger Ng -- are punishable by jail in the United States. Ng will fight the extradition attempt, his lawyer Tan Hock Chuan said earlier. On Monday, Malaysia's new government announced it was also filing criminal charges against Ng, his boss and Southeast Asia chairman Tim Leissner, and Goldman Sachs. Leissner has pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money allegedly siphoned from 1MDB and paying bribes to Malaysian and Emirati officials. Fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho -- commonly known as Jho Low -- the alleged mastermind of the fraud, was also charged by Malaysia this week with conspiring with Leissner and Ng. He maintains his innocence. Ross Aimer, CEO of Aero Consulting Experts, believes the MH370 pilots flew the plane off course in an attempt to come down at a Malaysian airport after they realized something was wrong with the airline. It is believed that a fire broke out due to the overheating of the batteries on board the plane.
"The initial turn, whatever they did to get off the airway, I think they may have initially tried to go to Penang Airport", he told Daily Star. "And while they were going towards it I think they either lost consciousness or they died, and then the aircraft went that way... And for some other reason it made another left turn, going south towards the south Indian Ocean." Aimer believes the plane flew on auto-pilot till it ran out of fuel and crashed in a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean. He also said MH370 would not have been capable of landing at Penang Airport on auto-pilot without the control of the pilots. Aimer, who flies a private jet, continued: "I can't explain the second left turn, but I would tell myself maybe they originally started making the turn thinking 'I want to get towards ground on fire, I've lost my oxygen', whatever it was, towards land because obviously you don't want to crash in water." "You want to get back towards land and perhaps find a big airport... It's possible the pilots started going towards there thinking it's got a long runway, and we have a crippled airplane. You want to have a long runway, or like a military base or something like that," he said. Aimer went on to say: "The fire that I'm thinking of, if the fire got into the oxygen system, that's the worst thing that could have happened because they had no chance, it would have been really quick... By itself, without the pilot, the plane could not have landed. If the pilots were alive and kicking they could have programmed the auto-pilot to go and land in that airport. But you kind of head towards there but you've lost consciousness, so you can't finish the job." However, as there was no evidence provided by Aimer to back his theory, International Business Times cannot independently verify the claims. Flight MH370 went missing 40 minutes after it took off from Malaysia with 239 people on board. Despite a multimillion-dollar search for the plane for four years, there has been no concrete clues to explain its mysterious disappearance. The biggest lead in the investigation came when a plane flaperon was found by villagers in the French island of Réunion. Possible wreckages had also turned up on the shorelines of Africa, Mozambique, and Mauritius. Investigators, in a report, said 27 pieces of the wreckage were believed to be from MH370, though only three were confirmed as parts belonging to the plane. In July, Malaysia released a report saying investigators failed to determine what happened to Flight MH370. However, it added that a “third-party interference” couldn’t be ruled out. Since the plane went missing several theorists tried to unravel the mystery. The most recent conspiracy theory suggested that the plane was hijacked so the organs of passengers on board the plane could be harvested. However, like most other theories that have surfaced, the latest one also could not be confirmed. Some claimed the pilot of the plane took the aircraft into a "death-dive" in a murder-suicide incident, but authorities rejected the theory. BANGKOK, December 13 -- The sentiment across broader Asia seemed less pessimistic about the trade deal, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edging up 0.8%. Optimism about improving relations between the two superpowers grew after China made its first major US soybean purchases in more than six months on Wednesday, two US traders said, and its first since US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping struck a trade war truce in early December. The SET index closed 19.89 points or 1.22% lower to 1,614.99, in trade worth 52.5 billion baht. The market hit their lowest since Nov 22. Shares of PTT Plc plunged to their lowest in more than four months at 47.50 baht, while those of PTT Exploration and Production PCL fell 6.7% to 125 baht. Oil prices were flat on Thursday under pressure from high inventories but buoyed by a drawdown in US crude stockpiles. Indonesia's benchmark index climbed to a more than seven-month high, aided by consumer staples and telecom stocks. Shares of cigarette maker Gudang Garam Tbk PT added 1.8%, while those of Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Persero) Tbk Perusahaan Perseroan PT rose to its highest in more than a week. However, the Southeast Asia's largest economy is expecting foreign direct investment to the country to be around $11 billion to $13 billion this year, less than the average in recent years of $20 billion per year. Philippines benchmark index eked out their third straight sessions of gains, rising to one-week high. Meanwhile, the Philippine central bank held its benchmark interest rate steady on Thursday, as expected, in line with the outlook for the inflation rate to cool. The apex bank had raised rates by a total 175 basis points so far this year, at the past five consecutive meetings to tame inflation. Singapore benchmark index climbed a near one-week high, while that of Malaysia added 0.8%. |
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