* Singapore posts biggest intraday pct gain in nearly 3
weeks
* Philippines has best session in more than a week
* Malaysia snaps two sessions of losses
By Arundhati Dutta
Dec 11 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian markets rose on
Wednesday on expectations of a delay in U.S. tariffs on Chinese
goods set to kick in this weekend, but Thailand fell for a tenth
straight session.
Officials on both sides are laying the groundwork to push
back a new round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports set to come
into effect on Dec. 15, the Wall Street Journal
reported. "Market players are positioned for a delay at the very
least," Maybank said in a note.
Leading gains in the region, the Philippine benchmark .PSI
had its best session in more than a week, with blue chips SM
Investments Corp SM.PS and Ayala Land ALI.PS lifting the
index.
The Singapore index .STI , which is highly sensitive to
developments on the trade war front, posted its biggest intraday
percentage gain in nearly three weeks.
United Overseas Bank UOBH.SI added 0.9%, while DBS Group
Holdings DBSM.SI rose 0.4%.
However, the Thai index .SETI continued to fall for the
tenth straight day and closed at its lowest level in nearly a
year. Including the session's decline, it has lost 3.9% in last
10 days.
Continued uncertainties around U.S.-China trade talks were
taking a toll on Thai markets, said Teerada Charnyingyong, a
strategist at Phillip Capital, Thailand.
"Everyone can see that Thailand's GDP growth is impacted a
lot from the trade war and our export data has turned negative,
That's the reason everyone continues to revise our GDP down."
Thailand's central bank cut growth forecast for this year to
2.8% in September, and the finance ministry followed suit in
October, in line with the growth predicted by a Reuters poll.
Financials were the top losers, with the Siam Commercial
Bank SCB.BK and Kasikornbank KBANK.BK posting losses.
The Malaysian benchmark .KLSE snapped two sessions of
losses, with index heavyweights Malaysia Airports MAHB.KL and
AMMB Holdings AMMB.KL gaining 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively.
Vietnamese stocks .VNI ended a tick higher, underpinned by
financials.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3172.9 3162.89 0.32
Bangkok 1551.82 1552.96 -0.07
Manila 7786.41 7736.18 0.65
Jakarta 6180.099 6183.505 -0.06
Kuala Lumpur 1563.19 1561.79 0.09
Ho Chi Minh 961.78 960.3 0.15
Change so far in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3172.9 3068.76 3.39
Bangkok 1551.82 1563.88 -0.77
Manila 7786.41 7,466.02 4.29
Jakarta 6180.099 6,194.50 -0.23
Kuala Lumpur 1563.19 1690.58 -7.54
Ho Chi Minh 961.78 892.54 7.76