SE Asia Stocks-Most rise after Sino-U.S. trade deal; Thailand leads gains
* U.S.-China sign Phase 1 deal * Singapore shares hit near 10-week high * Philippines sole loser in the region By Anushka Trivedi Jan 16 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian markets rose on Thursday, with Thailand leading the pack, as risk sentiment improved after the United States and China signed an interim trade deal to diffuse their 18-month-long dispute. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Wednesday signed the pact that will roll back some tariffs and see Beijing boost purchases of U.S. goods and services by $200 billion over two years. The deal, however, does not fully eliminate the tariffs or address several structural differences that led to the dispute. "The most difficult topics such as Chinese industrial subsidies are pushed to a phase 2 deal, which we do not expect before the U.S. elections in November," ING analysts said in a note. "At least the deal takes away some of the trade uncertainty that affected businesses in the past two years", they added. The Thai benchmark index jumped 0.9% to a near two-month high amid broad-based gains. Electricity retailer Gulf Energy Development PCL climbed 3.4% and property developer Central Pattana PCL added 4.5%. Trade-reliant Singapore shares closed at their highest in about ten weeks, helped by gains in financials and telecommunication stocks. Southeast Asia's largest lender DBS Group Holdings Ltd rose 1%, while Singapore Telecommunications Ltd advanced 2.2%. Vietnam's index rose 0.7%, while Indonesian shares were largely unchanged. Malaysia's stock index pared some early losses to close flat, with gains in telecom stocks offsetting weaker consumer stocks. Palm oil producer PPB Group Bhd and rival IOI Corp Bhd fell 0.4% and 1.5%, respectively. An industry regulator said Malaysia's palm oil exports are expected to drop by 2.5% this year. Additionally, an official said the U.S.-China trade deal could hurt Malaysian palm oil exports to China as Beijing will ramp up its uptake of soybean oil from the United States. Meanwhile, Philippine stocks closed at their lowest since Oct. 3, as consumer and financial stocks weakened. Conglomerate SM Investments Corp slipped 0.9%, while JG Summit Holdings Inc fell 1.4%. For Asian Companies click; SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS STOCK MARKETS Change on the day Market Current Previous close Pct Move Singapore 3278 3256.98 0.65 Bangkok 1595.87 1581.05 0.94 Manila 7653.18 7664.4 -0.15 Jakarta 6286.048 6283.365 0.04 Kuala Lumpur 1587.88 1585.14 0.17 Ho Chi Minh 974.31 967.56 0.70 Change so far in 2020 Market Current End 2019 Pct Move Singapore 3278 3222.83 1.71 Bangkok 1595.87 1579.84 1.01 Manila 7653.18 7,815.26 -2.07 Jakarta 6286.048 6,299.54 -0.21 Kuala Lumpur 1587.88 1588.76 -0.06 Ho Chi Minh 974.31 960.99 1.39 (Reporting by Anushka Trivedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
