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ASEAN Stock Market Preview

By Shayne Heffernan Ph.D.

Fed officials described the U.S. economy as having "decelerated somewhat," a change of tone from its June statement that it was "expanding moderately." But the U.S. central bank stopped short of offering new monetary stimulus.

Wall St fell over night, The market will now turn its focus to the highly anticipated European Central Bank meeting on Thursday amid expectations that the ECB could detail action to bring down rising borrowing costs in Italy and Spain in defense of the euro.

Wall Street opened higher after data showed U.S. companies hired more workers than expected in July, but continued weakness in the manufacturing sector pointed to sluggish economic growth.

Volume was above average with 7.26 billion shares changing hands on the NYSE, NYSE Mkt and Nasdaq, above the year-to-date daily average of 6.74 billion.

About eight issues fell for every five that rose on the NYSE while on the Nasdaq 14 fell for every five advancing issues.

Singapore

Singapore's manufacturing sector reverted to contraction in July after expanding for two months, as global economic weakness weighed on demand for goods produced in the island nation's factories.

Singapore's purchasing managers index was 49.8 in July, compared with 50.4 in June, according to figures released Wednesday by the Singapore Institute of Purchasing & Materials Management.

A PMI reading above 50 signals expansion in manufacturing activity, while that below 50 indicates contraction.

Thailand

Thai banks have already put in a strong performance — shares in the country’s fifth largest lender, Bank of Ayudhya, are up almost 48 percent so far this year. Shares in Thailand’s fourth big bank, Kasikornbank, have gained 43 percent, while Siam Commercial Bank, the third largest lender, is up 37 percent, and Bangkok Bank, Thailand’s biggest bank, has rallied 27 percent.

Banking stocks have outperformed the broader Thai market, which has gained around 17 percent this year.

Malaysia

The FBM KLCI index gained 0.87 points or 0.05% on Wednesday. The Finance Index increased 0.15% to 14711.24 points, the Properties Index up 0.15% to 1059.57 points and the Plantation Index down 0.14% to 8783.92 points. The market traded within a range of 8.65 points between an intra-day high of 1635.33 and a low of 1626.68 during the session.

Actively traded stocks include PATIMAS, TMS, TMS-WA, INIX, DSCSOL, IHH-CM, YTL, MTRONIC, JCY and IHH. Trading volume increased to 1354.08 mil shares worth RM1863.55 mil as compared to Tuesday’s 1175.13 mil shares worth RM1868.68 mil.

Leading Movers were UMW (+33 sen to RM9.80), AXIATA (+3 sen to RM5.89), MAYBANK (+3 sen to RM8.79), CIMB (+3 sen to RM7.88) and TENAGA (+4 sen to RM6.79). Lagging Movers were GENTING (-15 sen to RM9.32), YTL (-4 sen to RM1.82), SIME (-3 sen to RM9.80), IHH (-5 sen to RM3.15) and IOICORP (-2 sen to RM5.32). Market breadth was positive with 383 gainers as compared to 375 losers.


Philippines

After a three-day run-up, local stocks dipped Wednesday as some investors locked up gains while regional markets faltered on news of sluggish China factory data.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 8.94 points, or 0.17 percent, to close at 5,298.72 on mixed trade.

The main index was weighed down by the holding firm and mining/oil counters, which both fell by more than 1 percent. The industrial counter was also in the red. The financial, services and property counters eked out modest gains.

Value turnover amounted to P5.63 billion. There were 59 advancers, which were eclipsed by 94 decliners, while 49 stocks were unchanged.
 
The index was dragged lower by Ayala (-2.34 percent), Globe (-1.92 percent), Jollibee (-3.01 percent), AGI (-2.57 percent), BDO (-1.86 percent), DMCI (-1.02 percent), SM Prime (-0.57 percent) and Aboitiz Power (-0.43 percent).


Yesterday

Tokyo stocks fell 0.61 percent, or 53.21 points to 8,641.85, Seoul slipped 0.1 percent, or 2.06 points, to 1,879.93, and Sydney was down 0.15 percent, or 6.4 points, at 4262.8.

But Hong Kong rose 0.12 percent, or 23.57 points, to 19,820.38 while Shanghai shares were up 0.94 percent, or 19.73 points, to 2,123.36 despite weak Chinese manufacturing data for July.


– Taipei was down 0.03 percent, or 2.53 points, to 7,267.96.
 
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was 1.23 percent lower at Tw$80.0 while Hon Hai Precision added 0.24 percent to Tw$84.8.
 
– Wellington was down 0.41 percent, or 14.36 points, to 3530.65.

Fletcher Building fell 0.82 percent to NZ$6.06 while Telecom Corporation was down 0.19 percent to NZ$2.65.

– Jakarta was down 0.29 percent, or 11.87 points, to 4,130.46.
 
Bank Central Asia fell 0.6 percent to 7,950 rupiah and Bank Rakyat Indonesia lost 0.7 percent to 6,950 rupiah.
 
– Kuala Lumpur closed flat, adding 0.05 percent, or 0.87 points, to finish at 1,632.47.

Telekom Malaysia inched up 1.06 percent to 5.71 ringgit, while Malayan Banking increased 0.34 percent to 8.79 ringgit.
 
– Singapore gained 0.48 percent, or 14.68 points, to 3,051.08.
 
Singapore Airlines gained 1.89 percent to Sg$10.80 and CapitaLand added 1.33 percent to Sg$3.04.


– Manila fell 0.17 percent, or 8.94 points, to 5,298.72.

Ayala Land rose 2.97 percent to 22.50 pesos while its parent company Ayala Corporation fell 2.34 percent to 425 pesos.

– Mumbai edged up 0.12 percent, or 21.20 points, to 17,257.38.
 

Engineering giant Bharat Heavy Electricals rose 2.13 percent to 220.3 rupees while drug maker Cipla rose 4.40 percent to 353.45 rupees.

Shayne Heffernan Ph.D.  

Linda Johnson, Business Development Director - Private Client Group, Heffernan Capital Management
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