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Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Monday, led by large-caps, as China’s interest rate cuts to bolster the economy lifted the sentiment in Asia, while stocks in Malaysia headed for a second successive day of gains after upbeat March factory output data.
The Kuala Lumpur composite index, which measures the moves of 30 large-caps, was up 0.2 per cent, building on the modest gain on Friday and further recovering from a more than 6-week low hit on Thursday.
Shares of telecoms firm Axiata Group and CIMB Group Holdings both climbed more than 1 per cent, the top two gainers on the benchmark.
Malaysia’s industrial production rose 6.9 per cent in March from a year earlier, better than market expectations, data from the Statistics Department showed on Monday.
Indonesia’s index, Asia’s third worst performing index in 2015, edged up 0.1 per cent. Indexes in Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore eked out small gains, with the Philippines slightly ad lower after early rises.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.3 per cent.
Investor sentiment got an initial lift from news of the rate cut by China over the week-end and as US stocks rallied after a robust headline reading for US employment.
Singapore-based broker NRA Capital said that the market sentiment was not likely to be euphoric, citing a survey in Singapore which has shown more companies were expecting business prospects to worsen over the next six months.
Brokers in Bangkok also expected limited market rises due to concerns about a slowing domestic economy and after the central bank recently unveiled measures to relax curbs on fund outflows.
“Inflows to Thailand could be limited by more aggressive signals to let the baht weaken further and also domestic economic slowdown ahead of Thai Q1 2015 GDP release,’’ strategists at broker KGI Securities wrote in a report.
Recently oversold Thai banks were among actively traded, including Kasikornbank and Bangkok Bank. Indonesia's coal miners extended gains from Friday, led by Indo Tambangraya Megah and Adro Energy.
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