SE Asia stocks: Thai shares hit 4-week lows

Thailand's share markets touched their lowest in nearly 4 weeks on Wednesday as large caps were hit ahead of a court ruling on the Prime Minister, while shares in Malaysia trimmed losses after March exports growth came in line with expectations. The Thai SET index was down 0.35 per cent at 1,399.03 after hitting a low of 1,388.29, its lowest since April 11, and extending the 1.2% drop in the previous session. PTT, Advanced Info Service, PTT Exploration and Production and Siam Commercial Bank, which make up almost a 3rd of the benchmark, led losers. Thailand’s Constitutional Court will rule later today whether to remove Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office for abuse of power, with an expected guilty verdict likely to bring her supporters into the street and plunge the country into a political vacuum. In Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur’s key share index was down 0.07%, led by banking and consumer-related stocks such as Genting Malaysia and AMMB Holdings. Malaysia’s exports in March rose by 8.4% from a year earlier, in line with expectations, and the trade surplus that month was significantly higher than expected, data showed on Wednesday. Other markets in the region were mostly weak. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.76%, according to Reuters.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS (change at 0430 GMT)
Market                    Current     Prev Close    Pct Move
TR SE Asia Index*   418.01        418.92       -0.22
Singapore              3230.43       3245.56       -0.47
Kuala Lumpur       1859.10       1860.43       -0.07
Bangkok               1399.03       1404.01       -0.35
Jakarta                 4844.66       4834.47       +0.21
Manila                  6757.45       6765.93       -0.13
Ho Chi Minh          560.10        555.11       +0.90
* The Thomson Reuters South East Asia Index is a highly representative indicator of stocks listed in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.