SE Asia Stocks Fall on Fed, China data jitters; S'pore, Thailand hit 2-wk low

Business & Markets 2013
Written by Reuters
Thursday, 23 May 2013 19:55
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BANGKOK (May 23): Southeast Asian stocks fell on Thursday, with
Singapore marking its worst week since November
2012 and Thai stocks at their lowest close in more than two weeks, as
worries over the future of U.S. monetary stimulus and weak Chinese
data dented global sentiment.
Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia saw weakness in large caps such as
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, Siam Commercial Bank Pcl and
CIMB Group Holdings as investors cut holdings in risk assets ahead of
a long weekend.
Singapore's Straits Times Index dropped 1.8 percent to 3,393.17, the
lowest close since May 7. It fell 1.6 percent on the week. Malaysia's
main index slid 0.6 percent on the day, trimming its gain on the week to
0.2 percent.
Thai SET index ended down 1.5 percent at 1,607.46, sinking 3 percent
below the key 1,600 mark at one point. It saw a weekly loss of 1.3
percent, partly due to caution ahead of the central bank's policy rate
review next week.
The Thai, Singapore and Malaysian stock markets are shut on Friday,
and will reopen on Monday.