SE Asia Stocks-Philippines, Thailand up; US shutdown weighs

Oct 7 (Reuters) - Philippine and Thailand shares were firmer

on Monday, but other Southeast Asian markets were largely weaker

in early trade as investors stayed away, preferring a 'wait and

see' approach due to the lingering U.S. budget standoff.

By 0522 GMT, the Philippine stock index was 0.9

percent up at a near two-week high, while Thailand's main index

gained 0.2 percent.

Democrats and Republicans in the United States remained far

apart on ending the government shutdown, let alone reaching a

deal on the U.S. borrowing limit by Oct. 17 to avoid an

unprecedented default.

"It's a quite market with not much activity. Market and

investors are waiting to see any new development on the

shutdown," said Pichai Lertsupongkij, head of investment

advisory services at broker Thanachart Securities.

Other markets moved sideways with the Vietnam stock index

, the best performer in the region, up 0.3 percent, while

Malaysia and Singapore traded steady.

Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index was trading 0.14 percent

down, after the World Bank revised down its GDP growth forecast

for the largest economy in Southeast Asia.

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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change at 0524 GMT

Market Current Prev Close Pct Move

TR SE Asia Index* 409.04 409.19 -0.04

Singapore 3138.85 3138.08 +0.02

Kuala Lumpur 1776.19 1776.56 -0.02

Bangkok 1430.58 1427.72 +0.20

Jakarta 4382.99 4389.35 -0.14

Manila 6448.76 6390.48 +0.91

Ho Chi Minh 499.13 497.50 +0.33