Thailand stocks closed lower on Monday compared to its neighboring Southeast Asian nations due to a political turmoil in the country while Vietnam gained after trade resumed following a week-long holiday.
Thailand's benchmark closed lower by 0.8 percent. Advanced Info Service, a mobile service provider, ended lower by 3.7percent and Airports of Thailand dropped by 1.5 percent. The two companies were the biggest contributors to the nation's dragging index.
On separate news, Thailand's election panel disqualified the king's sister from running as the nation's prime minister. The decision of the panel ended the controversial candidacy by echoing King Maha Vajiralongkorn's words that royalty should be "above politics". The announcement of the panel was released before the market hours.
Vietnam, on the other hand, closed with an increase of about 1.9 percent after its trade resumed from a week-long Lunar New Year holiday. Real estate and financial stocks were among the leaders on the nation's stocks gain. The nation is currently at its near 8-week high since its best session in early December.
Vingroup, a property developer, closed higher by 4.3 percent. Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam gained an increase of 2.8 percent. Other Southeast Asian nations traded a low rate of change as they adopted and wait for the outcome of the trade negotiations between China and the United States.
Singapore's market share suffered early losses and ended flat. Tayrona Financial head of research, Liu Jinshu, said that resistance above the 3,200 level is emerging because of the market's unavailability to make significant progress above the level on Friday. Worries about the global economy due to the United States-China trade dispute cast a shadow over Singapore's prospects which affected its large electronic exports.
A United States delegate arrived on China on Monday to continue the trade negotiations before the March 1 deadline. The two nations need to agree on a trade deal before the said date or else the United States will impose another set of tariffs on Chinese goods. China is the largest trading partner of Southeast Asian nations and its tariff war with the Western nation became a heavy toll on the region.
Most of the countries in the region are in a tight range on Tuesday while the two economic giants started a new round of talks to resolve their on-going trade dispute. Trade negotiators from both sides are hopeful that they will agree on a deal. However, a White House economic adviser said that March 1 is the "real deadline" of their negotiations.
