Southeast Asia stocks soft on China factory data

Southeast Asia stocks soft on China factory data

A worker polishes steel at an offshore oil engineering platform in Qingdao, Shandong province. Investors in Southeast Asian stocks were cautious on Wednesday after China's manufacturing activity showed sings of steadying. (AFP photo)
A worker polishes steel at an offshore oil engineering platform in Qingdao, Shandong province. Investors in Southeast Asian stocks were cautious on Wednesday after China's manufacturing activity showed sings of steadying. (AFP photo)

Most Southeast Asian stock markets remained subdued on Wednesday as investors were cautious after China's manufacturing activity showed signs of steadying in May, but remained weak amid soft demand at home and abroad.

China's official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was unchanged from April at 50.1 last month, suggesting the world's second-largest economy is still struggling to regain traction.

Investors are also keenly watching for US non-farm payrolls data that is due on Friday and is expected to show the economy created 164,000 jobs in May.

"Markets have been primarily driven by good Chinese PMI index data and US housing data, indicating stabilised investor sentiment," said Grace Aller, an analyst at Manila-based AP Securities.

US single-family home prices rose more than expected in March, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The Philippine index closed up 1.3%, rebounding from Tuesday's 0.8% fall, helped by financials and consumer cyclicals.

"Philippine stocks rose partly due to rebalancing of MSCI at Tuesday's close, that led some of the stocks to bounce back today," said Joseph Roxas from Manila-based Eagle Securities.

Shares of Manila Electric, the country's biggest power utility, and investment holding firm SM Investment were among the biggest gainers.

The Indonesian index recovered from the previous session's losses after data on Wednesday showed the rate of inflation eased in May to its lowest in more than 6 years, giving the central bank room to lower lending rates.

The gains were driven by consumer staples and financials, with shares of Bank Central Asia Tbk PT rising 1.4% and those of Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk PT up 2.2%.

Shares in Singapore and Malaysia were flat, while Vietnam gained marginally led by financials and basic materials.

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