SE Asia Stocks-Philippines, Indonesia rise as U.S., China allay trade war fears
* Thailand nearly flat as energy, banking stocks drag * Indonesia snaps four sessions of losses By Soumyajit Saha Aug 7 (Reuters) - Philippine and Indonesian shares gained more than 1% Wednesday, after Beijing and Washington stepped up to ease escalating trade war tensions, while Malaysia fell dragged down by consumer stocks. Chinese authorities intervened to steady the yuan on Tuesday after letting it slide to its lowest in over a decade on the previous day, which had sparked accusations of currency manipulation from the United States and threatened to spread the trade war into the currency space. U.S. President Donald Trump then played down fears of a protraction in the trade war, tweeting that "massive amounts of money from China and other parts of the world" were coming into the U.S. economy. "Acceleration towards an all-out trade war between the U.S. and China appears to have been averted, at least for the moment," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at VM Markets Pte Ltd. Real estate and banking stocks pushed up Philippine's benchmark more than 1%. Property developer SM Prime Holdings rose 1.7%, while lender BDO Unibank advanced 1.4%. Philippines' trade deficit narrowed as imports fell 10.4%, while exports grew 1.5%. The banking sector helped Indonesian shares gain, with lenders Bank Central Asia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) rising 1.6% each. Meanwhile, the Malaysian index fell, hurt by losses in the consumer cyclical sector. Tourism company Genting Malaysia Bhd and related group Genting Bhd fell 10.8% and 5.3%, respectively, after Genting Malaysia decided to acquire and privatise the loss-making Empire Resorts Inc. Thai stocks also edged marginally lower, hurt by losses in the energy and banking sectors. Lender Bank of Ayudhya fell 1.3%, while oil explorer PTT Exploration and Production lost 1.2%. Thailand's central bank is widely expected to hold its benchmark rate steady in a meeting later today, a Reuters poll showed, despite slowing growth and easing moves by its regional peers. Energy stocks were also hurt by the a drop in oil prices overnight, as escalating trade war fears had ignited worries over demand. For Asian Companies click; SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS as on 0408 GMT STOCK MARKETS Change on the day Market Current Previous close Pct Move Singapore 3173.22 3170.47 0.09 Bangkok 1671.38 1671.48 -0.01 Manila 7846.92 7766.75 1.03 Jakarta 6207.327 6119.471 1.44 Kuala Lumpur 1605.22 1611.79 -0.41 Ho Chi Minh 966.63 964.61 0.21 Change so far in 2019 Market Current End 2018 Pct Move Singapore 3173.22 3068.76 3.40 Bangkok 1671.38 1563.88 6.87 Manila 7846.92 7,466.02 5.10 Jakarta 6207.327 6,194.50 0.21 Kuala Lumpur 1605.22 1690.58 -5.05 Ho Chi Minh 966.63 892.54 8.30 (Reporting by Soumyajit Saha; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
