SE Asia stocks subdued; Vietnam falls on foreign selling
SE Asia stocks subdued; Vietnam falls on foreign selling
Vietnam stocks ended 1.6 percent lower on Monday, hurt by consumer staples and financials on foreign selling while other Southeast Asian markets were largely subdued as weaker oil prices weighed.
"We have seen persistent foreign selling in index (stocks) in recent days. This is starting to affect the domestic sentiment," said Fiachra Mac Cana managing director and head of research at Ho Chi Minh Securities.
Faros Construction, which was down as much as 7 percent intraday recovered to end 0.8 percent higher. Philippines the second biggest loser in the region, closed 0.9 percent lower, snapping three sessions of gains.
Industrials were among the top losers with conglomerate SM Investments Corp ending 2.3 percent lower.
Oil prices, which slipped on Monday on fears that producer countries may fail to agree an output cut at their meeting on Wednesday also kept markets subdued.
"The fall in oil prices will have an impact on oil exporters like Indonesia and Malaysia. Oil is probably why the Southeast Asian markets are not doing well today," said Mikey Macainag, an analyst with Manila-based Sunsecurities Inc.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will meet in Vienna on Wednesday to decide on the details of a production cut.
Indonesia finished 0.2 percent lower, dragged down by industrials and financials.
Singapore bucked the trend to end 0.5 percent higher, extending gains for a fifth session with financials outperforming the broader market.
The city-state's three big banks, DBS Group Holdings ended 1.8 percent higher while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp gained 1.6 percent and United Overseas Bank Ltd finished 0.8 percent firmer.
Malaysia and Thailand were flat.
