SE Asia Stocks-Most gain; Singapore snaps 9-session losing streak
* Singapore, Philippines hit over 1-week high
* Thai shares rise for 5th session in 6
By Sumeet Gaikwad
Aug 23 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose
on Thursday, led by financials, with Singapore snapping a
nine-session losing streak and Philippines hitting a more than
one-week high.
However, gains were capped ahead of manufacturing data from
Europe and the United States later in the day, which will be
closely watched to gauge whether the spectre of a global trade
war is hurting economic activity.
U.S. and Chinese officials met for the first time in more
than two months on Wednesday to try find a way out of their
deepening trade conflict, but there was no evidence that the
low-key discussions would halt a new round of U.S. tariffs due
on Thursday.
Financials and telecom stocks pushed the Singapore index 1.4
percent higher, with lender DBS Group Holdings gaining
more than 2 percent and Singapore Telecommunications,
the biggest boost to the benchmark, jumping as much as 7.5
percent.
"The earnings season is over and a lot of banks have gone
ex-dividend and that is a live catalyst," said Joel Ng, analyst
at KGI Securities.
The city-state is set to release July inflation data later
in the day.
Philippines shares rose nearly 2 percent, extending
gains into a second session, led by industrial stocks.
Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp jumped
nearly 10 percent while shipping industry giant International
Container Terminal Services gained nearly 4 percent.
Malaysian shares rose to a near two-week high, in
their fourth straight session of gains, with Axiata Group Bhd
hitting an over two-month high and Public Bank Bhd
adding 0.8 percent.
Malaysia's July inflation data will be released on Friday.
It is expected to have risen to 0.9 percent, marginally faster
than the previous month, a Reuters poll showed.
Indonesia was largely unchanged as gains in
financials were offset by losses in consumer durables and
telecom stocks. Bank Central Asia rose 1.3 percent
while Perusahaan Gas Negara was up 5.7 percent.
An index of the country's 45 most liquid stocks
rose 0.2 percent.
Vietnam stocks were up 0.3 percent.
For Asian Companies click;
SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS: AS AT 0431GMT
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3246.52 3199.89 1.46
Bangkok 1706.3 1698.3 0.47
Manila 7771.06 7632.26 1.82
Jakarta 5944.514 5944.301 0.00
Kuala Lumpur 1806.36 1798.11 0.46
Ho Chi Minh 984.69 982.15 0.26
Change on year
Market Current End 2017 Pct Move
Singapore 3246.52 3402.92 -4.60
Bangkok 1706.3 1753.71 -2.70
Manila 7771.06 8558.42 -9.20
Jakarta 5944.514 6355.654 -6.47
Kuala Lumpur 1806.36 1796.81 0.53
Ho Chi Minh 984.69 984.24 0.05
(Reporting by Sumeet Gaikwad in Bengaluru, Additional reporting
by Mensholong Lepcha; Editing by Vyas Mohan)
