* Philippine cenbank rate decision due around 0800 GMT
* Jump in palm oil prices lifts Malaysian benchmark
* Singapore stocks hit highest since Jan. 27
By Shruti Sonal
Feb 6 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose on
Thursday as investors picked up beaten-down stocks, with the
Philippine index gaining ahead of a widely-expected interest
rate cut.
While most indexes clocked small gains in the last two
sessions, current levels stand nowhere close to what they were
at before Jan. 20 when the coronavirus outbreak first drew the
attention of global markets.
Since then, major regional markets such as Indonesia,
Singapore and Philippines have shed 2%-5%.
"Bargain-hunting and hopes of an accommodative stance to be
adopted by more central banks in the region as a cautionary
response to the virus outbreak has lifted sentiment," Joel Ng,
analyst at KGI Securities said.
Traders cited unconfirmed reports of a possible vaccine or
drug breakthrough for the coronavirus as a trigger for a broader
rally on Wednesday, although they also said such a catalyst was
also likely to be an excuse for short-covering. The World Health Organization too played down such reports
of drug breakthroughs. "While this may have supported risk-taking, we don't see
much substance in these reports just yet and we are sceptical
the risk rally will continue", analysts at ING said in a note.
Malaysian equities .KLSE led gains with a near 1% jump as
a rally in palm oil prices boosted the benchmark. POI/
Sime Darby Plantation SIPL.KL , the world's largest oil
palm planter by land size, rose 1.4%.
The Philippine benchmark .PSI climbed 0.9% ahead of its
central bank's meeting. Nine of 11 economists polled by Reuters
said it will cut the rate on its overnight reverse repurchase
facility by 25 basis points to 3.75%. Aiding sentiment was economic data from United States which
showed the country's trade deficit falling for the first time in
six years in 2019 along with a pick-up in services sector
activity last month. Trade-sensitive Singapore shares .STI rose as much as 0.8%
to hit their highest since Jan. 27, buoyed by financials and
industrials.
Index heavyweights Comfortdelgro Corporation Ltd CMDG.SI
and SATS Ltd SATS.SI gained more than 2% each.
For Asian Companies click;
SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS at 0324 GMT
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3210.13 3200.13 0.31
Bangkok 1536.36 1534.14 0.14
Manila 7405.9 7352.85 0.72
Jakarta 5976.096 5978.51 -0.04
Kuala Lumpur 1549.22 1536.79 0.81
Ho Chi Minh 929.62 925.91 0.40
Change so far in 2020
Market Current End 2019 Pct Move
Singapore 3210.13 3222.83 -0.39
Bangkok 1536.36 1579.84 -2.75
Manila 7405.9 7,815.26 -5.24
Jakarta 5976.096 6,299.54 -5.13
Kuala Lumpur 1549.22 1588.76 -2.49
Ho Chi Minh 929.62 960.99 -3.26