Each week, we provide an overview of the percent returns of the primary indices in Southeast Asia and their currency appreciation or depreciation relative to the US Dollar. We provide this information below. We also capture this information, as well as the trailing four and year-to-date movements, and plot the data in charts, which you can find on the “index charts” and “currency charts” pages.
Indices
During the week of 11 December, five of the ten indices in Southeast Asia advanced, with the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) having the greatest gain, rising 1.85%. The KLCI’s 1.85% increase was the index’s second greatest weekly gain in 2017; it jumped 2.06% the first week of January. The Edge Markets, a financial publication in Malaysia, attributed at least some of the weekly gains to the World Bank’s upwardly revised GDP forecast for Malaysia in 2017. Investors also may have responded favorably to comments from the US Federal Reserve stating the bank continued to plan for three rate hikes—and not four—for 2018; in November, National Australia Bank stated that Malaysia was one of the “riskiest emerging markets” in Asia as the US Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates, according to The Edge Markets. Additionally, investors may have viewed the Malaysian market as relatively cheap after declining from its year-to-date high of 1792.35.
Myanmar’s Myanpix Index fell 2.52% over the week, possibly because officials from the country’s Directorate of Investment and Company Administration indicated the Myanmar Companies Act, which was passed the previous week and should lead to greater foreign investor participation in Myanmar’s market, probably would not be implemented until August of 2018, according to The Myanmar Times.
Weekly gains
- Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI), 1.85%
- Cambodia Securities Exchange index (CSX), 1.71%
- Jakarta Stock Exchange index (JSX), 1.47%
- Stock Exchange of Thailand index (SET), 0.65%
- Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi), 0.39%
Weekly declines
- Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI), -0.22%
- Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange Index (VNI), -0.53%
- Hanoi Stock Exchange Index (HNX), -1.93%
- Lao Securities Exchange index (LSX), -2.40%
- Myanmar’s Myanpix index (YSX), -2.52%
Currencies
Five of the nine Southeast Asian currencies advanced relative to the US Dollar the week of 11 December, with the Myanmar Kyat increasing the most, appreciating 0.82%. The Indonesian Rupiah had the greatest decline, falling 0.22%. During the week, Bank Indonesia and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas held their last policy meetings for 2017, with both deciding to hold their benchmark interest rate at the current levels of 4.25% and 3.00%, respectively.
Weekly appreciations
- Myanmar Kyat (MMK), 0.82%
- Thai Baht (THB), 0.34%
- Singapore Dollar (SGD), 0.26%
- Malaysian Ringgit (MYR), 0.21%
- Philippine Peso (PHP), 0.02%
- Cambodian Riel (KHR), 0.00%
- Lao Kip (LAK), 0.00%
Weekly depreciation
- Vietnamese Dong (VND), -0.03%
- Indonesian Rupiah (IDR), -0.22%
