* China says agreed with U.S. to cancel tariffs in phases
* Philippines Q3 GDP growth better than forecast
* Thailand leads gains with a 1% rise
By Sameer Manekar
Nov 7 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets climbed
on Thursday, with Thailand leading the pack with a 1% gain,
after China said it agreed with the United States to cancel in
phases the tariffs imposed on each others' goods.
China's commerce ministry said Washington and Beijing must
simultaneously cancel some duties on each others' goods for the
two sides to reach a "phase one" trade deal. "The trade war started with tariffs, and should end with the
cancellation of tariffs," Gao Feng, a commerce ministry
spokesman, told reporters without specifying a timetable.
"We have come from nowhere to tariff roll-back in just two
weeks. This tells that someone is really motivated to put a deal
together," said Stephen Innes, a market strategist at AxiTrader.
"Also, U.S. President Donald Trump needs the S&P 500 to be
over 3,100 ahead of elections next year, and what he needs is a
trade deal."
Thai stocks .SETI closed at their highest in more than one
month, driven by buying in the last of couple of hours after
subdued trading for most parts of the day.
Energy and materials stocks were among the top gainers, with
Thai Oil Pcl TOP.BK and PTT Global Chemical PTTGC.BK adding
5.1% each.
Singapore shares .STI posted their highest close in more
than three months, lifted by financials and consumer firms.
CapitaLand Ltd CATL.SI rose 1.9% and Wilmar International
WLIL.SI advanced 1.6%.
Philippine shares .PSI gained 0.6%, rebounding from a more
than 2% slump in the previous session, after data showed the
archipelago's economy grew faster than expected in the third
quarter, fuelled by buoyant government spending and domestic
demand. Financial and consumer stocks were among the top gainers,
with SM Prime Holdings SMPH.PS adding 3.1%, while Robinsons
Retail Holdings RRHI.PS rose 1.6%.
Meanwhile, Indonesian shares .JKSE trimmed earlier losses
to close 0.8% lower.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday urged banks to
help stimulate the economy with cuts in lending rates and loans
to small and medium firms following feeble third-quarter growth
data. If state-owned banks were to cut their rates, "it would drag
the average lending rate, which would result in a drop in net
interest margin (NIM), with no countervailing loan growth, due
to tight liquidity", said Christine Natasya, an equity analyst
at Mirae Asset Indonesia.
"In this scenario, we would expect NIM deterioration to
begin starting early 2020."
Financial and communication stocks were among top losers.
Bank Rakyat Indonesia BBRI.JK and Bank Permata BNLI.JK
finished lower by 3.9% and 12.3%, respectively, while
state-owned Telekomunikasi Indonesia TLKM.JK slipped 1.2%.
An index of the country's 45 most liquid stocks .JKLQ45
fell 1%.
For Asian Companies click;
SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3285.72 3262.69 0.71
Bangkok 1640.88 1623.99 1.04
Manila 8073.81 8025.88 0.60
Jakarta 6165.624 6217.545 -0.84
Kuala Lumpur 1609.33 1603.25 0.38
Ho Chi Minh 1024.03 1024.91 -0.09
Change so far in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3285.72 3068.76 7.07
Bangkok 1640.88 1563.88 4.92
Manila 8073.81 7,466.02 8.14
Jakarta 6165.624 6,194.50 -0.47
Kuala Lumpur 1609.33 1690.58 -4.81
Ho Chi Minh 1024.03 892.54 14.73