Asian stocks seen mixed this week

Asian stocks seen mixed this week

Agence France-Presse, Jakarta/Singapore/Japan

Indonesian shares, which fell marginally last week, are expected to strengthen this week pushed by Telkom, carmaker Astra International and resource companies, dealers said over the weekend.

"We see that the upward movement may be capped below 770 because historically that is a very strong trend-line resistance," said Arianto Reksoprojo, senior analyst at Trimegah Securities.

Market mover stocks such as Sampoerna which have already strengthened could help cap the rise, Reksoprojo said.

An institutional dealer with Samuel Securities also said investors expected the index rebound to slowly reach 800 points.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed on Friday at 761.140, down 5.045 points, or 0.66 percent, from the previous week. Average daily volume was 1.37 billion shares worth Rp 635.108 billion (US$71 million) compared with 1.83 billion shares worth Rp 1.03 trillion the previous week.

In Singapore, the share prices are tipped to rise but technology stocks may stay subdued amid growing concerns of a slowdown hitting the sector, according to dealers.

The Straits Times Index closed on Friday at 1,871.47, up 9.44 points or 0.51 percent from a week ago.

Investors have already started to shun technology stocks in favor their property counterparts as private sector economists warned electronics exports will wane demand from China and the United States slow, economists said.

Electronics make up of half of Singapore's NODX and is an important polar of the local manufacturing industry. A robust 20.9 percent jump in June NODX failed to excite local investors who preferred put their funds into the property stocks that are seen as good bargains at current valuations.

In Tokyo, Japanese shares are expected to continue under pressure, with foreign investors in particular reluctant to buy heavily into the tech sector amid concerns over the second half outlook.

"The market is expected to remain gloomy as foreign players are likely to be sidelined," said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, a senior analyst at SMBC Friend Securities.

"The tech sector was a major selling target in the past week and may remain under pressure in the coming week," Nakanishi said. "Right now, no one wants to stay buying for a long time. Players may test support (for the Nikkei index) at 11,000 next week."

Already under pressure, techs got hit again mid-week when U.S. chip giant Intel cut its profit margin forecast to 60 percent from 62 percent for the balance of the year. Strong results from IBM and Samsung Electronics later in the week had little immediate impact.

Last week, the Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 12.47 points or 0.11 percent to 11,436.00 after losing 2.5 percent the previous week.

Meanwhile, the Thai stock market is expected to be pressured by a host of foreign and domestic factors including a lingering bird flu crisis in the kingdom.

"I think the market should be relatively stable although it may fall further... as a main concern is the re-emergence of bird flu," said Anupon Sri-ard, chief analyst at BFIT Securities.

Thailand on Friday announced a sharp increase in outbreaks of a lethal strain of bird flu and confirmed it had reached the capital Bangkok and 14 other provinces.

Analyst Teerada Charnyingyong at Philip Securities believed the index could move between 630 and 660 points as investors keep a close eye on the negative factors.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand composite index shed 20.48 points or 3.07 percent in the past week to close on Friday at 646.11.