* Washington and Beijing may delay Dec. 15 tariffs - WSJ
* Thai index set to fall for 10th straight session
* Singapore up on blue chips
By Arundhati Dutta
Dec 11 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets were
subdued on Wednesday, ahead of a looming tariff deadline,
despite a report that cited trade negotiators are laying the
groundwork to delay fresh U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports.
Officials in Beijing and Washington have signalled that Dec.
15 is not the final date for reaching a so-called "phase-one"
deal, according to a Wall Street Journal report, even though
that is the date U.S. President Donald Trump has set for tariffs
to increase on $165 billion of Chinese goods. Faced with often conflicting reports, investors have begun
to suspect that even if U.S. tariffs due to take effect on
Sunday are delayed, it could take until 2020 before Washington
and Beijing can agree a preliminary deal to wind back their
trade war.
"Trade negotiators from both countries have moved away from
a deadline for a Phase 1 trade deal," DBS Group Research said in
a note.
Markets are also keeping an eye on commentary from the U.S.
Federal Reserve's policy meeting, where the central bank is
expected to stand pat on rates. Leading gains, the Philippine index .PSI posted its best
session in more than a week, with conglomerates SM Investments
Corp SM.PS and Ayala Land ALI.PS advancing 1% and 0.6%,
respectively.
Trade-sensitive Singapore index .STI was lifted by solid
gains in Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp OCBC.SI and agribusiness
firm Wilmar International WLIL.SI .
Malaysian equities .KLSE inched up, with big-cap financial
stocks Malayan Banking MBBM.KL and RHB Bank RHBC.KL adding
nearly 0.2% and 0.7%, respectively.
On the downside, Thai stocks .SETI were trading lower, as
losses in financials offset modest gains in industrials. The
index was poised to close lower for a tenth straight session.
The Siam Commercial Bank SCB.BK slipped 2%, while Airports
of Thailand AOT.BK climbed 1%.
Vietnamese shares .VNI dropped 0.5%, weighed by
real-estate stocks. Vinhomes Joint Stock Co VHM.HM shed nearly
2%.
The Indonesian benchmark .JKSE remained subdued.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS AS AT 0438 GMT
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3172.11 3162.89 0.29
Bangkok 1549.38 1552.96 -0.23
Manila 7786.52 7736.18 0.65
Jakarta 6182.983 6183.505 -0.01
Kuala Lumpur 1563.75 1561.79 0.13
Ho Chi Minh 955.68 960.3 -0.48
Change so far in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3172.11 3068.76 3.37
Bangkok 1549.38 1563.88 -0.93
Manila 7786.52 7,466.02 4.29
Jakarta 6182.983 6,194.50 -0.19
Kuala Lumpur 1563.75 1690.58 -7.50
Ho Chi Minh 955.68 892.54 7.07