The latest in Indonesia

The benchmark index of Indonesia reached near a four week high yesterday, as foreign inflows raised select large-caps such as Bank Rakyat and Telkom Indonesia. This is before the presidential election on Wednesday.

Investors are anticipating the outcome of the 9^th July election, with a more visible political outlook set to revive interest for assets, brokers and fund managers.

According to Fidelity's FF Indonesia Fund’s portfolio manager, the outcome of the election is not expected to alter or affect the fund's long-term positive view of Indonesia. This is despite the currently levelled race between the two leading candidates, as both Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto have very similar agendas.

Jakarta's composite index increased to 1.2%, its highest since 11^th June, building on a 1.3% gain last week, when the first weekly gain in four was marked on the market.

The Indonesian rupiah reached a five-week high yesterday.

Elsewhere, the Philippine benchmark reached over a 13 month high as property shares including Megaworld Corp and Ayala Land stretched gains amid robust foreign demand for condominiums.

The Thai index floated around a near one year high as investors pursued stocks viewed to benefit from infrastructure spending, including Siam Cement, as banks were mixed prior to quarterly earnings due next week.

Kasikornbank gained almost 1% as Bangkok Bank alleviated 0.3%.

Stocks of Malaysia and Singapore were range-bound whilst shares of Vietnam grew to their highest in almost three months.