* Banking stocks drag Indonesia down
* Singapore closes at nearly 8-mth low
* Thai stocks at their lowest close in nearly two weeks
By Soumyajit Saha
Aug 26 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian markets ended lower on
Monday, tracking a broader Asian sell-off, as the United States
and China slapped retaliatory tariffs on each other over the
weekend in further escalation of a protracted trade war.
Though both the countries sought to ease trade war tensions
on Monday, with Beijing calling for calm and U.S. President
Donald Trump predicting a deal, local markets seemed to shrug
off the optimism. Washington on Friday added an extra 5% duty on about $500
billion worth of Chinese goods, retorting the Chinese imposition
of an extra 10% tariff on $75 billion worth of U.S. goods
earlier that day.
"Asia and Pacific markets, especially those with high beta
to China growth and world trade, which is basically all of them,
are facing possibly their worst single down day of the year
today," Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst, Asia Pacific at
OANDA said in a note to clients.
China is Southeast Asia's biggest trading partner.
Quantifying risks related to the escalation of the trade war
will be difficult, but exports and growth outlooks will be
weakened further as recession risks grow, Mizuho bank said in a
note to clients.
Thai stocks .SETI fell to its lowest close in nearly two
weeks, hurt by losses in energy and financial sectors.
Lender Kasikornbank PCL KBANK.BK was down 1.6%, while gas
explorer and supplier PTT PCL PTT.BK lost 3.5%.
Industrial and financial stocks weighed on the Singapore
benchmark index .STI , as it closed at its lowest in almost
eight months.
Lender DBS Group Holdings DBSM.SI fell 1.2%, while
conglomerate Jardine Matheson Holdings JARD.SI lost 2.5%.
The city-state's July industrial production dropped 0.4%
year-on-year, but the fall was much narrower than broader
forecasts. Production had contracted 8.1% in June, according to
revised figures from the Singapore Economic Development Board.
Malaysian shares .KLSE snapped two consecutive sessions of
gains to fall on Monday.
The index was hurt most by heavyweights such as Petronas
Chemicals Group Bhd PCGB.KL and Petronas Gas Bhd PGAS.KL ,
which lost 4.3% and 1.9%, respectively.
Indonesian stocks .JKSE also fell to close at a near
two-week low, dragged down by losses in the banking sector.
Bank Mandiri (Persero) BMRI.JK was down 1.7%, while Bank
Negara Indonesia (Persero) BBNI.JK lost 1.6%.
An index of Indonesia's 45 most liquid stocks .JKLQ45 was
down 0.8%
The Philippines index was closed for a public holiday.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3065.33 3110.35 -1.45
Bangkok 1622.73 1646.68 -1.45
Jakarta 6214.51 6255.597 -0.66
Kuala Lumpur 1600.53 1609.33 -0.55
Ho Chi Minh 982.88 992.45 -0.96
Change so far in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3065.33 3068.76 -0.11
Bangkok 1622.73 1563.88 3.76
Manila 7889.41 7,466.02 5.67
Jakarta 6214.51 6,194.50 0.32
Kuala Lumpur 1600.53 1690.58 -5.33
Ho Chi Minh 982.88 892.54 10.12