* Philippines closes at over 2-month low
* Thailand rises on telecom stocks
By Soumyajit Saha
Aug 6 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets closed
lower on Tuesday, with the Philippines losing 1.6%, as fears of
a possible currency war between the United States and China
spooked investors.
The U.S. Treasury Department said on Monday it had
determined that China was manipulating its currency and that it
would now take the issue up with the International Monetary
Fund, after Beijing let the yuan fall below the 7-per-dollar
mark for the first time in more than a decade. China is manoeuvring for "greater room" by "taking away the
USD/CNY 7.0 hurdle", ING Group said in a note to clients.
The option could be used if Beijing "does decide that the
currency has to be part of the response to the latest round of
the trade war," it added.
Philippine shares .PSI closed at their lowest in over two
months, hurt by heavyweights like real estate company Ayala Land
ALI.PS , which fell 2.2%, and lender BDO Unibank BDO.PS ,
which lost 1.4%.
Singapore shares .STI declined 0.6%, dragged by industrial
and financial stocks.
Conglomerate Jardine Matheson Holdings JARD.SI shed 0.9%,
while real estate company Hongkong Land Holdings HKLD.SI fell
3%.
Losses in banking stocks dragged down Indonesian shares
.JKSE to their lowest close in over two months.
Bank Central Asia BBCA.JK lost 2%, while Bank Rakyat
Indonesia (Persero) BBRI.JK fell about 4%.
Thai shares .SETI were the top gainers in Southeast Asia,
recovering from a two-month low hit earlier in the day to close
slightly higher on the back of telecom stocks.
Mobile services providers Advanced Info Service ADVANC.BK
and Intouch Holdings INTUCH.BK rose about 4.4% and 4.9%,
respectively.
"Advance's results last night were better than expected" and
that had "set a positive sentiment for other telecom companies",
said Rakpong Chaisuparakul, a strategist with KGI Securities
(Thailand).
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3170.47 3194.51 -0.75
Bangkok 1671.48 1665.99 0.33
Manila 7766.75 7890.02 -1.56
Jakarta 6119.471 6175.703 -0.91
Kuala Lumpur 1611.79 1610.41 0.09
Ho Chi Minh 964.61 973.15 -0.88
Change so far in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3170.47 3068.76 3.31
Bangkok 1671.48 1563.88 6.88
Manila 7766.75 7,466.02 4.03
Jakarta 6119.471 6,194.50 -1.21
Kuala Lumpur 1611.79 1690.58 -4.66
Ho Chi Minh 964.61 892.54 8.07