* Singapore ends lower for a sixth straight session
* Indonesia and Thailand announce stimulus packages
* Philippines stock exchange set to reopen on March 19
By Arpit Nayak
March 18 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets gave
up early gains to end lower on Wednesday, as fears over the
economic damage from the coronavirus contagion overshadowed
stimulus measures from major central banks.
Markets across the region struggled to hold on to gains as a
rising number of virus cases forced lockdowns and travel bans in
a bid to restrict the spread of the virus. MKTS/GLOB
"Financial markets have been volatile these past few days,
to say the least," said Venkateswaran Lavanya, analyst at Mizuho
Bank, in a note.
"We still think that financial market contagion resulting in
a self-perpetuating financial crisis remains a real and present
danger."
Singapore stocks .STI ended 1.2% lower, after rising more
than 3% earlier, as worries emerged that the country may be
headed towards its first full-year recession in nearly 20 years
as Malaysia's travel ban robs the city-state of a key source of
labour. The index ended lower for a sixth straight session.
Conglomerate Jardine Strategic Holdings JSH.SI dropped
3.6%, while real estate firm Capitaland CATL.SI eased 2.8%.
Malaysia's bourse .KLSE fell as much as 1.4%, as the
country went into a two-week partial lockdown after a spike in
coronavirus cases. The Indonesian index .JKSE ended 2.8% lower as financial
and consumer sectors took the biggest hits, with Bank Mandiri
(Persero) BMRI.JK falling 6.8% and household goods maker
Unilever Indonesia UNVR.JK dropping 6.9%.
Indonesia said it would reallocate 17.17 trillion rupiah
($1.13 billion) from its 2020 state budget in a bid to blunt the
economic impact of the virus. The stimulus comes ahead of an expected cut to the central
bank's key policy rate at a meeting on Thursday. Thai equities .SETI bucked the trend to rise 1.3% after
the central bank said it had bought bonds worth $1 billion to
boost liquidity. The telecom and financial sectors were the biggest gainers,
as mobile phone operator Advanced Info Service ADVANC.BK and
Kasikornbank KBANK.BK added 4.4% and 1.5%, respectively.
Trading remained suspended on the Philippine bourse .PSI
but was set to resume on Thursday, despite a lockdown across the
island of Luzon where capital Manila is located. Asian Companies click;
SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
Change on the
day
Market Current Previous Pct Move
close
Singapore 2425.62 2454.53 -1.18
Bangkok 1048.15 1035.17 1.25
Jakarta 4330.674 4456.749 -2.83
Kuala Lumpur 1239.01 1256.58 -1.40
Ho Chi Minh 747.66 745.78 0.25
Change so far
in 2020
Market Current End 2019 Pct Move
Singapore 2425.62 3222.83 -24.74
Bangkok 1048.15 1579.84 -33.65
Manila 5335.37 7,815.26 -31.73
Jakarta 4330.674 6,299.54 -31.25
Kuala Lumpur 1239.01 1588.76 -22.01
Ho Chi Minh 747.66 960.99 -22.20