SE Asia Stocks Philippines leads regional gains; Malaysia retreats

Business & Markets 2013
Written by Reuters
Wednesday, 15 May 2013 18:21
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BANGKOK (May 15): The Philippine main stock index hit a record close
for a third session on Wednesday as large caps rallied, following the
nation's mid-term elections, while most other markets rose to new highs
after a decent set of quarterly results.
The Philippine index closed up 1 percent at 7,392.20, pushing its
year-to-date gain to 27.2 percent, the region's best performance. The
top company by value, SM Investment Corp, was the most actively
traded and rose 1.4 percent to a record 1,181 peso.
The results of Philippine mid-term elections showed President Benigno
Aquino is set to win unprecedented control of the two chambers of
Congress, boding well for the country's reforms.
"In our view, this is a strong result and a clear endorsement of Aquino's
reform agenda, on which he now looks likely to make more progress as
he gains control of the Senate," Nomura said in a research note dated
May 14.
Malaysia bucked the trend, with Kuala Lumpur's composite index falling
0.3 percent after three sessions of gains while recently rallying sectors
such as banks faced mild selling pressure.
It still held close to a record close of 1,782.73 hit in the previous
session, after last week's general election which eased political
uncertainty.