By Soumyajit Saha
Feb 7 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets traded
in a tight range on Friday as the mounting death toll from a
coronavirus outbreak in China raised fears of economic damage,
while Singapore shares dropped nearly 2% after a downgrade in
growth forecast.
The viral outbreak, which claimed almost 640 lives,
continued to grip markets. China was confident it could defeat
the epidemic with no long-term economic consequences, Xi told
U.S. President Donald Trump in a telephone call, according to
state television. Customs office in China - the region's biggest trading
partner - said on Friday that it will not issue preliminary
trade data for January but would combine it with February
numbers. A Reuters poll had predicted that imports and exports
are likely to fall in January. Singapore shares closed 1.7% lower after its biggest bank
DBS downgraded the 2020 growth rate forecast for the city-state
to 0.9% from 1.4% previously, citing an expected economic hit
from the outbreak. "The concern is that the impact from the 2019-nCoV (on
Singapore) could be deeper than SARS," the bank said in a note.
The country was one of the worst hit after China in the
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, which killed
nearly 800 people globally in 2002 and 2003.
Financials and industrial sectors drove losses in the
Singapore benchmark index .STI , but posted a weekly gain of
nearly 1%.
Heavyweights Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp OCBC.SI and
Jardine Matheson Holdings JARD.SI ended down 1.9% and 1.2%,
respectively.
Indonesian shares .JKSE traded subdued through the
session, but ended the week 1% firmer.
Sentiment got a lift following reports that the central bank
was confident of its 2020 GDP growth outlook, despite the
fourth-quarter growth rate coming in at the weakest pace in
three years.
An index of Indonesia's 45 most liquid stocks .JKLQ45 rose
0.2%.
Malaysian shares .KLSE rose marginally to end 1.5% higher
for the week, lifted by strength in banking stocks with Malayan
Banking MBBM.KL closing 0.7% firmer.
The Philippine index .PSI ended the session flat, but
posted a weekly gain of 4.3%.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the
day
Market Current Previous Pct Move
close
Singapore 3181.48 3231.55 -1.55
Bangkok 1535.24 1535.79 -0.04
Manila 7507.2 7506.51 0.01
Jakarta 5999.607 5987.145 0.21
Kuala Lumpur 1554.49 1552.77 0.11
Ho Chi Minh 940.75 938.54 0.24
Change so far in
2020
Market Current End 2019 Pct Move
Singapore 3181.48 3222.83 -1.28
Bangkok 1535.24 1579.84 -2.82
Manila 7507.2 7,815.26 -3.94
Jakarta 5999.607 6,299.54 -4.76
Kuala Lumpur 1554.49 1588.76 -2.16
Ho Chi Minh 940.75 960.99 -2.11