By Geo Tharappel
Feb 16 (Reuters) - The Indonesian stock index was marginally
lower on Thursday, after the much-watched first round election
for Jakarta governor produced no clear outcome, while most other
Southeast Asian markets rose in line with Asian peers.
Unofficial sample vote counts pointed to a second round
between the incumbent Basuki Tjahaja Purnama and Anies Baswedan,
a Muslim former education minister, after neither appeared to
win a majority in Wednesday's election.
"While this result might not be surprising, what was
interesting to see was the vote difference between the two was
quite thin, only around 2-3 percent", said Pandu Anugrah of
Maybank KimEng Securities in Jakarta.
The Jakarta poll has been overshadowed by religious
tensions, with Islamist-led protests against Governor Purnama,
an ethnic Chinese Christian, and calls for voters to choose a
Muslim leader for the city. Purnama is backed by President Joko
Widodo's ruling party, and the poll is widely seen as a proxy
battle for the 2019 presidential election.
The Jakarta SE Composite index, which fell as much
as 0.4 percent, recouped some losses after data showed that the
country's January exports surged more than expected on rising
commodity prices.
Indonesia's PT Bank Mandiri Tbk fell as much as
4.6 percent, its biggest intraday percentage drop in 12 weeks.
The biggest Indonesian bank by assets reported a 32 percent drop
in its 2016 net profit to the lowest in five years, after market
close on Tuesday.
Indonesian markets were closed on Wednesday for the Jakarta
poll.
Philippine shares surged as much as 1.6 percent,
their biggest intraday jump since Jan. 23, led by industrials
and financials.
"There is a technical rebound from yesterday's losses... as
of now we have net foreign buying of 270 million pesos ($5.4
million), which bucks the trend from the past trading session,"
said Victor Felix, equity analyst at AB Capital Securities.
Philippine conglomerate SM Investments Corp gained
as much as 3.5 percent to record its biggest intraday jump in
more than three weeks.
Vietnam shares gained as much as 0.6 percent to a hit
a nine-year high. The index was on track for its fifth straight
session of gains, led by financials and consumer staples.
Vietcombank and Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp
were each up about 1 percent.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS 0455 GMT
Market Current prev close Pct Move
Singapore 3088.78 3088.48 0.01
Bangkok 1577.33 1573.37 0.25
Manila 7291.32 7174.3 1.63
Jakarta 5377.512 5380.67 -0.06
Kuala Lumpur 1706.73 1709.79 -0.18
Ho Chi Minh 715.85 711.57 0.60