Indonesia stocks close at record high on rating upgrade

Visitors stand next to an electronic stock board at the Indonesia Stock Exchange in Jakarta. Indonesian shares closed at a record high on Thursday. (Reuters file photo)

Indonesian shares closed at a record high on Thursday, bouncing back from a drop in the previous session, after Fitch raised the country's credit ratings to their second lowest investment grade.

Fitch upgraded Indonesia's credit ratings to 'BBB', with its outlook as stable, saying economic and monetary policies have made Southeast Asia's largest economy resilient to external shocks.

"Fitch's upgrade may now raise expectations of an upgrade by Moody's next year, given that Moody's has already put Indonesia's rating on a positive outlook in early-2017," Gundy Cahyadi, an economist with DBS Group Research, said in a note.

The Jakarta SE Composite Index closed 1.2% higher, rising for a seventh session in eight, while an index of the country's 45 most liquid stocks climbed 1.7%.

Financial and consumer staple stocks led the gains, with Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk PT and Unilever Indonesia Tbk PT rising 3.4% and 1%, respectively.

Philippine shares erased earlier losses to close 0.2% higher, aided by gains in industrials.

Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc rose 3.1%, while PLDT Inc and Globe Telecom Inc declined as news of a third telecom provider to challenge the existing duopoly gains steam.

Singaporean shares dropped for a sixth session, dragged by financial and real estate stocks.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp declined 0.8%, while CapitaLand Commercial Trust fell over 3%.

A Reuters poll showed that industrial output in November likely expanded at its slowest pace in six months, signalling a tempering in fourth-quarter economic growth. The data is expected to be released next week.