* U.S.-China sign Phase 1 deal
* Singapore shares hit near 10-week high
* Philippines sole loser in the region
By Anushka Trivedi
Jan 16 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian markets rose on
Thursday, with Thailand leading the pack, as risk sentiment
improved after the United States and China signed an interim
trade deal to diffuse their 18-month-long dispute.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He
on Wednesday signed the pact that will roll back some tariffs
and see Beijing boost purchases of U.S. goods and services by
$200 billion over two years. The deal, however, does not fully eliminate the tariffs or
address several structural differences that led to the dispute.
"The most difficult topics such as Chinese industrial
subsidies are pushed to a phase 2 deal, which we do not expect
before the U.S. elections in November," ING analysts said in a
note.
"At least the deal takes away some of the trade uncertainty
that affected businesses in the past two years", they added.
The Thai benchmark index .SETI jumped 0.9% to a near
two-month high amid broad-based gains.
Electricity retailer Gulf Energy Development PCL GULF.BK
climbed 3.4% and property developer Central Pattana PCL CPN.BK
added 4.5%.
Trade-reliant Singapore shares .STI closed at their
highest in about ten weeks, helped by gains in financials and
telecommunication stocks.
Southeast Asia's largest lender DBS Group Holdings Ltd
DBSM.SI rose 1%, while Singapore Telecommunications Ltd
STEL.SI advanced 2.2%.
Vietnam's index .VNI rose 0.7%, while Indonesian shares
.JKSE were largely unchanged.
Malaysia's stock index .KLSE pared some early losses to
close flat, with gains in telecom stocks offsetting weaker
consumer stocks.
Palm oil producer PPB Group Bhd PEPT.KL and rival IOI Corp
Bhd IOIB.KL fell 0.4% and 1.5%, respectively. An industry
regulator said Malaysia's palm oil exports are expected to drop
by 2.5% this year. Additionally, an official said the U.S.-China trade deal
could hurt Malaysian palm oil exports to China as Beijing will
ramp up its uptake of soybean oil from the United States.
Meanwhile, Philippine stocks .PSI closed at their lowest
since Oct. 3, as consumer and financial stocks weakened.
Conglomerate SM Investments Corp SM.PS slipped 0.9%, while
JG Summit Holdings Inc JGS.PS fell 1.4%.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3278 3256.98 0.65
Bangkok 1595.87 1581.05 0.94
Manila 7653.18 7664.4 -0.15
Jakarta 6286.048 6283.365 0.04
Kuala Lumpur 1587.88 1585.14 0.17
Ho Chi Minh 974.31 967.56 0.70
Change so far in 2020
Market Current End 2019 Pct Move
Singapore 3278 3222.83 1.71
Bangkok 1595.87 1579.84 1.01
Manila 7653.18 7,815.26 -2.07
Jakarta 6286.048 6,299.54 -0.21
Kuala Lumpur 1587.88 1588.76 -0.06
Ho Chi Minh 974.31 960.99 1.39