SE Asia Stocks-Most end lower; Philippines extends losses
Friday, September 20, 2019       18:39 WIB

Sept 20 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Friday, with Philippines declining for a fourth straight session, as fears of an escalation in the Middle East tension
gathered pace.
The markets were volatile all week, after the United States blamed Tehran for the attack on Saudi oil facilities over the weekend and said it was "locked and loaded" for a potential
response.
"There is fear of further tensions in the Middle East. That's why emerging markets such as the Philippines have been suffering due to hot money outflows. So, the funds are going
back to safe-haven assets," Rachel Cruz, research analyst at AP Securities said.
The Philippine benchmark index was in the red for a fourth straight session, bogged down by financials.
Index heavyweights SM Prime Holdings and Ayala Land Inc dropped 2% and 2.2%, respectively, whereas the benchmark shed 1.5% for the week.
Vietnam shares slipped 0.7% on weakness in financial stocks, while adding 0.3% for the week to be the only gainer in the region.
The Thai bourse skidded to a three-week low after data showed a 4% slump in exports for August. The decline was bigger than a Reuters forecast of a 2% fall in shipments, the
main driver of Thai growth.
Among top losers were industrial and financial stocks, while the index lost 1.6% for the week.
Indonesian stocks fell for a second session with financial and consumer sectors dominating losses and logged a 1.6% fall this week.
The country's central bank eased interest rates on Thursday and relaxed lending rules in a bid to revive the sluggish economy, but the move failed to lift sentiment as fears of
waning growth kicked in.
The bank's governor indicated that the economy is weaker than expected, with analysts at ANZ seeing the effectiveness of monetary policy in bolstering growth to be quite limited.

Sumber : reuters.com