* Malaysia has reported best month since July 2018
* Thailand reverses course, up 0.4%
* The Philippines posts best daily gain in 2 months
By Arundhati Dutta
May 29 (Reuters) - Philippine stocks jumped nearly 5% on
Friday amid last minute buying of blue-chip shares, while most
other Southeast Asian markets closed up as several local
economies are set to re-open after weeks under lockdown.
Markets in Southeast Asia largely ignored global concerns
around a Sino-U.S. scuffle over Beijing tightening its control
over Hong Kong, choosing to instead focus on easing mobility
restrictions in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.
In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte eased one of
the world's toughest curbs in its capital Manila. Leading gains, the local benchmark .PSI closed up 4.8%
with index heavyweights such as BDO UniBank Inc BDO.PS , SM
Investments SM.PS and Ayala Corp AC.PS surging between 8.8%
and 11% before the closing bell.
Thailand followed suit with announcements of shortened
curfew hours and relaxed restrictions from next week - following
which the benchmark .SETI recovered from a 1% drop earlier in
the session to close up 0.4%. Consumer Staples led the gains, with convenience store
operator CP All Pcl CPALL.BK adding 1.4%.
Along the same lines, Indonesian local media https://en.tempo.co/read/1347150/jokowi-advises-against-premature-opening-of-tourism-sector
reported that plans were underway to impose "new normal"
protocols across four provinces, including Jakarta.
The benchmark .JKSE closed up 0.8%, with consumer
discretionary and consumer staple stocks contributing to most of
the gains.
Malaysian stocks .KLSE ended up 1.1% and had their best
month since July 2018.
Heavyweights Hartalega Holdings HTHB.KL , Petronas Gas
PGAS.KL and Petronas Dagangan PETR.KL added between 9.4% and
12.6% for the day.
Shares in Vietnam .VNI jumped on real estate stocks, while
Singapore .STI , down 0.2%, was the sole loser in the region.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the
day
Market Current Previous Pct Move
close
Singapore 2510.75 2515.24 -0.18
Bangkok 1342.85 1337.51 0.40
Manila 5838.84 5570.22 4.82
Jakarta 4753.612 4716.185 0.79
Kuala Lumpur 1473.25 1457.5 1.08
Ho Chi Minh 864.47 861.39 0.36
Change so far
in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 2510.75 3222.83 -22.09
Bangkok 1342.85 1563.88 -14.13
Manila 5838.84 7,466.02 -21.79
Jakarta 4753.612 6,194.50 -23.26
Kuala Lumpur 1473.25 1588.76 -7.27
Ho Chi Minh 864.47 892.54 -3.14