* U.S. President Trump considering an interim deal with
China
* Malaysia on track to fall for a second session
* The Philippine index hits a two-week high
By Anushka Trivedi
Sept 13 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose
on Friday, as signs of a de-escalation in the U.S.-China trade
friction and European Central Bank's aggressive push for fiscal
stimulus helped offset concerns about a global recession.
Washington on Thursday was encouraged by Beijing's purchase
of U.S. farm goods, ahead of planned talks next week, with U.S.
President Donald Trump reportedly mulling the possibility of an
interim trade deal, which would postpone tariffs or even roll
back some of the existing ones. "Given that investors have been known to wear trade war
emotion on their sleeve, any steps by China and the U.S. to ease
tensions further ahead of face-to-face talks in Washington in
the coming weeks will be a green light of risk sentiment" said
Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific market strategist, AxiTrader.
Markets worldwide also received a lift from ECB's decision
to cut rates by 10 bps and assurance of a renewed effort on the
fiscal policy front, such as resuming bond-buying programme.
Leading gains in the region, the Philippine index .PSI
advanced to its highest in two weeks, underpinned by
heavyweights SM Prime Holdings Inc SMPH.PS and conglomerate SM
Investments Corp SM.PS .
Singapore's main bourse .STI , which has been highly
sensitive to developments in the Sino-U.S. trade spat, gained
0.3% on the back of financial and industrial stocks.
Meanwhile, Vietnam .VNI and Indonesian shares .JKSE were
trading marginally higher.
Bucking the upbeat trend, Malaysian stocks .KLSE extended
declines to a second session, with losses in telecom service
providers Digi.com Bhd DSOM.KL and Maxis Bhd MXSC.KL denting
the index.
Malaysian telecom firm Axiata Group Bhd AXIA.KL and
Norway's Telenor TEL.OL ended talks last week, failing to
create a telecom joint venture, which saw Telenor's local unit
Digi.com mark its biggest intraday percentage drop in nearly
nine years. The market is still affected by the negative sentiment in
the telco sector and appreciation of the ringgit, with exporters
seeing declines in stocks such as Petronas Chemicals Group
PCGB.KL , IHH Healthcare Bhd IHHH.KL , among others, said
Redza Rahman, head of research, MIDF.
For Asian Companies click;
SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS AT 0404 GMT
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3203.61 3194.96 0.27
Bangkok 1659.56 1660.68 -0.07
Manila 7988.41 7944.43 0.55
Jakarta 6345.491 6342.174 0.05
Kuala Lumpur 1596.72 1601 -0.27
Ho Chi Minh 977.56 976.07 0.15
Change so far in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3203.61 3068.76 4.39
Bangkok 1659.56 1563.88 6.12
Manila 7988.41 7,466.02 7.00
Jakarta 6345.491 6,194.50 2.44
Kuala Lumpur 1596.72 1690.58 -5.55
Ho Chi Minh 977.56 892.54 9.53