* U.S. tariffs on Brazil and Argentina 'effective
immediately'
* Vietnam touches 5-month low on losses in financials
* U.S. proposes duties on imports from France
* Malaysia weighed down by resource and banking sectors
By Soumyajit Saha
Dec 3 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets on
Tuesday tracked global equities lower on concerns about weak
U.S. manufacturing data and signs of new fronts in the tariff
scenario, posing an additional risk to the global economic
outlook.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would restore
tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminium imports from Brazil and
Argentina. Trump's tariff threat overshadowed encouraging data from
euro zone economies and China - Southeast Asia's biggest trading
partner. Global equities slid further after an industry data showed
that the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted for a fourth
straight month in November as new orders slid to around their
lowest level since 2012. Washington also said it may slap punitive duties of up to
100% on $2.4 billion in imports from France, after concluding
that France's new digital services tax would harm U.S. tech
companies. Joel Ng, an analyst at KGI Securities said the risk aversion
can be attributed to "trade-tension escalations between various
countries and, well, as usual, the U.S.".
"Ahead of the tariffs on China kicking in, we are expecting
caution in the market for the next two weeks too," he added.
Malaysian stocks .KLSE fell to their lowest in nearly
eight weeks, weighed down by resource and banking sectors.
Chemicals maker Petronas Chemicals Group PCGB.KL lost
1.7%, while lender Hong Leong Bank HLBB.KL was down 1.2%.
Vietnam shares .VNI dropped to their lowest in more than
five months, dented by losses among financial stocks.
Lender Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Viet
Nam VCB.HM was down 1.3%, while real estate developer Vinhomes
VHM.HM was trading 1.2% lower.
Singapore stocks .STI were dragged lower by financial and
telecom sectors, while real estate and consumer stocks weighed
on the Philippine index .PSI .
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS AS AT 0412 GMT
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous Pct Move
close
Singapore 3181.68 3187.97 -0.20
Bangkok 1571.52 1569.53 0.13
Manila 7840.48 7877.19 -0.47
Jakarta 6127.343 6130.055 -0.04
Kuala Lumpur 1562.31 1570.55 -0.52
Ho Chi Minh 956.07 959.31 -0.34
Change so far in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3181.68 3068.76 3.68
Bangkok 1571.52 1563.88 0.49
Manila 7840.48 7,466.02 5.02
Jakarta 6127.343 6,194.50 -1.08
Kuala Lumpur 1562.31 1690.58 -7.59
Ho Chi Minh 956.07 892.54 7.12