* Singapore marks biggest intraday pct gain in 2 months
* Philippines touches its highest in nearly 3 weeks
* Meetings on trade negotiation planned for Sept
By Soumyajit Saha
Aug 30 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets rose on
Friday, with Singapore leading the gains, tracking a global
upturn, as markets cheered signs of fresh trade negotiations
between Washington and Beijing.
Risk sentiment got a boost after U.S. President Donald Trump
announced on Thursday scheduled calls with China, ahead of a
looming deadline for additional U.S. tariffs. The announcement
comes after China said a round of meetings was planned for
September. China though said progress in the talks would hinge on the
United States "creating" favourable conditions, adding that it
hoped Washington would cancel some of the tariffs set to kick in
on Sunday.
"An olive branch from China, but we don't think China is
about to acquiesce without the U.S. removing a lot of existing
tariffs and holding off from new ones," said Robert Carnell,
Head of Research, Asia-Pacific at ING Group.
Investors were also focused on a string of economic releases
due over the weekend including China's official manufacturing
survey, which would provide a good gauge of the real impact from
the Sino-U.S. trade war.
"U.S. public opinion would not welcome a weak trade deal
with China as much as they would not welcome a slowing economy,"
Robert explained, adding, "so yes, markets are happy today as a
goldfish is with a new rock in the tank to swim around, and
around, and around."
Singapore shares .STI saw their best session in nearly two
months, as index heavyweights DBS Group Holdings DBSM.SI and
Jardine Matheson Holdings JARD.SI advanced 1.2% and 1.8%,
respectively.
Thai shares .SETI touched their highest in almost three
weeks, ahead of the country's July trade balance data due later
in the day. Exports in Thailand declined on a year-on-year basis
in June, while trade surplus had climbed from May. The benchmark index, lifted by the energy and financial
sectors, saw lender Kasikornbank PCL KBANK.BK posting gains of
1.3%, while oil explorer and distributor PTT PCL PTT.BK
climbed 1.2%
Real estate stocks helped the Philippine benchmark index
.PSI touch its highest in about three weeks, with SM Prime
Holdings SMPH.PS gaining up to 1.4%, while Ayala Corp AC.PS
rose 0.5%.
Indonesian stocks .JKSE extended gains into a fourth
session, underpinned by the banking sector. Bank Mandiri
(Persero) BMRI.JK and Bank Central Asia BBCA.JK rose 1.5%
and 0.7%, respectively.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS AS AT 03:42 GMT
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3105.55 3081.83 0.77
Bangkok 1651.03 1639.14 0.73
Manila 7949.51 7892.81 0.72
Jakarta 6311.981 6289.119 0.36
Kuala Lumpur 1603.42 1595.18 0.52
Ho Chi Minh 983.04 978.59 0.45
Change so far in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3105.55 3068.76 1.20
Bangkok 1651.03 1563.88 5.57
Manila 7949.51 7,466.02 6.48
Jakarta 6311.981 6,194.50 1.90
Kuala Lumpur 1603.42 1690.58 -5.16
Ho Chi Minh 983.04 892.54 10.14