* Indonesia leads declines, down 0.7%
* Thai economy may grow less than 2% in 2020
* Vietnam & Singapore little changed during session
By Arundhati Dutta
Feb 13 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets closed
lower on Thursday as a sharp rise in new coronavirus deaths and
infections shattered hopes that the virus outbreak had peaked.
Chinese province Hubei, which is at the epicentre of the
coronavirus outbreak, reported a record 242 deaths and thousands
more cases on Thursday under a new diagnostic method, suggesting
a much bigger crisis facing China and the world. That took total deaths in China from the virus to 1,367, up
254 from the previous day, the National Health Commission said.
The surge in the number of infections comes a day after
global markets had rallied after China's senior medical advisor
said the epidemic would be over by April. The latest update on the coronavirus situation has "shaken
Asia's confidence," said Jeffrey Halley, market analyst at
OANDA, in a note.
"The argument that it was a one-off adjustment versus the
integrity of China's data collection has left Asian stock
markets in somewhat of a limbo," Halley said.
Leading declines in markets, Indonesian shares .JKSE
closed 0.7% lower, weighed by heavyweight telecoms player
Telekomunikasi Indonesia TLKM.JK , down 2.6%.
The Thai Benchmark .SETI closed down 0.5%, pressured by
energy stocks. Petroleum producer PTT Exploration and Production
Pcl PTTEP.BK fell 2%, the most on the sector.
Adding to the downbeat mood, a Thai central bank official
said on Thursday that the country's economy may grow by less
than 2% this year and exports are likely to contract, mainly
from the impact of the virus outbreak. Malaysian equities .KLSE dropped for a second straight
day, as heavyweight financials such as Hong Leong Bank HLBB.KL
fell 1.9% and Hong Leong Financial Group HLCB.KL slipped 0.6%.
Shares in Vietnam .VNI and Singapore .STI were little
changed throughout the session, while the Philippines .PSI
closed 0.3% higher.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3220.09 3223.37 -0.1
Bangkok 1532.77 1539.84 -0.46
Manila 7403.12 7383.1 0.27
Jakarta 5871.954 5913.081 -0.7
Kuala Lumpur 1539.16 1542.94 -0.24
Ho Chi Minh 938.24 937.68 0.06
Change so far in 2020
Market Current End 2019 Pct Move
Singapore 3220.09 3222.83 -0.09
Bangkok 1532.77 1579.84 -2.98
Manila 7403.12 7,815.26 -5.27
Jakarta 5871.954 6,299.54 -6.79
Kuala Lumpur 1539.16 1588.76 -3.12
Ho Chi Minh 938.24 960.99 -2.37