* Trump tweets deal with China "very close"
* Philippines leads gains, up over 1%
* Malaysia marks best session in six weeks
By Arundhati Dutta
Dec 13 (Reuters) - The Philippine and Thai indexes led gains
among Southeast Asian markets on Friday as reports emerged that
the United States and China had taken a major step towards
securing a "phase-one" deal to de-escalate their prolonged trade
war.
Washington agreed to reduce some existing tariffs on Chinese
goods and delay fresh tariffs that were scheduled to kick off
this weekend, while Beijing agreed to buy $50 billion in U.S.
agricultural goods in 2020, sources familiar with the matter
told Reuters. "The terms have been agreed but the legal text has not yet
been finalized. Looking ahead, the market will focus on the
details of the phase-one deal, " said Margaret Yang, analyst at
CMC Markets in a note.
The Philippine index .PSI jumped more than 1% and posted
its best session in nearly two weeks.
Conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp MPI.PS climbed
as much as 16.7%, marking its best session in over a decade,
after its unit Metro Pacific Hospital Holdings said it plans to
buy a majority stake in Santos Clinic. The index was also underpinned by major gains in Ayala Land
ALI.PS and SM Investments Corp SM.PS .
An overnight spike in oil prices pushed the energy-heavy
Thai index .SETI to its highest in nearly two weeks. The
benchmark is set to snap a fourth straight weekly loss. O/R
PTT Exploration and Production Pcl PTTEP.BK hit its
highest level in a month.
Malaysian stocks .KLSE posted their best session in six
weeks, with heavyweights such as power utility Tenaga Nasional
TENA.KL and telecoms player Axiata Group AXIA.KL lifting the
index.
Indonesian shares .JKSE gained on financials, with PT Bank
Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk BBNI.JK and PT Bank Mandiri
(Persero) Tbk BMRI.JK tacking on 1% each.
The Singapore bourse .STI advanced on blue-chips, with
Jardine Matheson Holdings JARD.SI and Jardine Strategic
Holdings JSH.SI climbing 1.4% and 0.6%, respectively.
Vietnamese shares .VNI edged up on financials, while the
index was set to close the week firmer after dropping for four
consecutive weeks.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS AS AT 0416 GMT
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3210.98 3194.67 0.51
Bangkok 1578.51 1563.85 0.94
Manila 7856.63 7741.07 1.49
Jakarta 6175.406 6139.397 0.59
Kuala Lumpur 1575.36 1567.34 0.51
Ho Chi Minh 969.42 968.17 0.13
Change so far in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3210.98 3068.76 4.63
Bangkok 1578.51 1563.88 0.94
Manila 7856.63 7,466.02 5.23
Jakarta 6175.406 6,194.50 -0.31
Kuala Lumpur 1575.36 1690.58 -6.82
Ho Chi Minh 969.42 892.54 8.61