* Indonesia leads declines, down 0.5%
* Philippines on track to fall for second straight day
* Singapore and Vietnam subdued
By Arundhati Dutta
Feb 13 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets edged lower
in thin trading on Thursday as a surge in the number of
coronavirus cases prompted investors to stay away from risky
bets.
The death toll in China's Hubei province leapt by a record
242 as of Wednesday and the number of new cases soared to 14,840
after the country used a new method to report infections.
Analysts at Maybank said in a note that since the surge in
new cases was a result of "broadening the definition of
confirmed cases", new numbers as of Thursday will be closely
watched to see if it normalizes.
Global stocks have rallied after China's senior medical
advisor said the epidemic would be over by April. But the market
hopes were dashed on Thursday by the latest numbers.
"The release of a new approach to confirming Covid-19 cases
in Hubei makes the numbers look a lot higher, but may not be as
bad as it sounds," Robert Carnell, economist at ING wrote in a
note.
Philippine equities .PSI were on track for a second
straight day of losses. Index heavyweights Ayala Land Inc
ALI.PS skid up to 1.4% and SM Investments Corp SM.PS 0.7%.
The Indonesian benchmark .JKSE shed as much as 0.5%,
dragged lower by materials stocks. Cement maker PT Semen
Indonesia (Persero) Tbk SMGR.JK dropped up to 4%.
The Malaysian index .KLSE inched lower, hurt by losses in
heavyweight financials such as Hong Leong Financial Group
HLCB.KL and CIMB Group CIMB.KL .
The Thai index .SETI lost as much as 0.4%, pressured by
utilities stocks. Electricity distributor Global Power Synergy
Pcl GPSC.BK lost over 2%.
Shares in Singapore .STI and Vietnam .VNI were also
trading slightly lower.
For Asian Companies click;
SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS AS AT 0426 GMT
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3217 3223.37 -0.2
Bangkok 1535.3 1539.84 -0.29
Manila 7350.08 7383.1 -0.45
Jakarta 5883.126 5913.081 -0.51
Kuala Lumpur 1539.59 1542.94 -0.22
Ho Chi Minh 935.68 937.68 -0.21
Change so far in 2020
Market Current End 2019 Pct Move
Singapore 3217 3222.83 -0.18
Bangkok 1535.3 1579.84 -2.82
Manila 7350.08 7,815.26 -5.95
Jakarta 5883.126 6,299.54 -6.61
Kuala Lumpur 1539.59 1588.76 -3.09
Ho Chi Minh 935.68 960.99 -2.63