SE Asia Stocks-Indonesia rises on Jokowi's likely poll victory; Philippines falls
* Indonesia on track to end 5 sessions of losses * Philippine index falls up to 0.7% * Singapore, Malaysia & Thailand markets closed By Niyati Shetty May 20 (Reuters) - Indonesian shares rose on Monday, ahead of the outcome of the country's presidential election, while Philippines declined as Sino-U.S. trade tensions kept investors at bay. Results of the hotly-contested presidential election in Indonesia is expected to confirm, on Wednesday, unofficial counts by private pollsters last month that showed incumbent President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) winning a second term over ex-general Prabowo Subianto. Jokowi's re-election will be the "most market-friendly outcome, or one less thing for investors to be worried about amid rising external uncertainty," ING said in a note on Friday. The Jakarta index gained as much as 0.8% and was poised to snap five straight sessions of declines. Financials and communications sectors provided support. PT Bank Central Asia Tbk and PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Persero) Tbk each advanced 2.3%. The Philippine bourse lost up to 0.7%, weighed by real estate and industrial sectors. The index was on track to decline for a sixth session in seven. Property developer SM Prime Holdings Inc fell up to 2.2%, while conglomerate SM Investments Corp slipped 1.2%. Risk appetite took a hit in the region due to escalating tensions between the world's largest economies, which intensified after the Trump administration added Huawei Technologies Co Ltd to a trade blacklist last week. In response to the restrictions, Alphabet Inc's Google suspended business with Huawei that requires the transfer of hardware, software and technical services except those publicly-available via open source licensing, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Vietnam stocks were largely flat, with gains in utilities sector offsetting losses in real estate stocks. Financial markets in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia were closed for holidays. For Asian Companies click; SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS AS AT 0327 GMT Market Current Previous close Pct Move Manila 7540.75 7583.82 -0.57 Jakarta 5869.608 5826.868 0.73 Ho Chi Minh 976.31 976.48 -0.02 Change so far in 2019 Market Current End 2018 Pct Move Manila 7540.75 7,466.02 1.00 Jakarta 5869.608 6,194.50 -5.24 Ho Chi Minh 976.31 892.54 9.39 (Reporting by Niyati Shetty in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
