Southeast Asian stock markets ended mostly lower to flat on Thursday as investors cashed in on recent market gainers and a selloff in Unilever Indonesia due to the impact of royalty fee on profits weighed on the Jakarta bourse. The Philippine index fell 0.6 percent, extending its loss for a second day and after Tuesday's rise to a record finish of 5,831.50. Shares of conglomerate Ayala Corp, which hit an all-time high early in the week, slipped 2 percent.

After the market close, the Philippine central bank said it kept its benchmark interest rate steady at a record low of 3.5 percent, as expected, with economic growth expected to stay robust on the back of strong domestic demand. The Philippines had gained 32.4 percent so far this year, slightly ahead of Thailand's 32 percent rise. Both markets are among the best performing markets world-wide so far this year.

Jakarta's Composite index edged down 0.4 percent after three sessions of gains. Shares of Unilever Indonesia continued their slide for the second day as profit concerns prompted downgrades by many brokerages. Stocks in Malaysia advanced a modest 0.2 percent after late selling while Thailand finished down 0.06 percent, Singapore ended up 0.5 percent and Vietnam inched up 0.03 percent.

Copyright Reuters, 2012