* Thailand gains 1% on telecom, energy stocks
* Malaysia only loser in the region
* Singapore snaps 3 days of losses
By Soumyajit Saha
July 10 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose
on Wednesday, with Thailand leading the pack with a gain of 1%,
as market participants counted on U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman
Jerome Powell to stay accommodative in his congressional
testimony later in the day.
The market now prices in a 25 basis point rate cut by the
Fed at the end of this month, after strong June U.S. jobs data
tempered expectations of a deeper cut.
"It's unlikely the Fed would risk ignoring the markets
signalling especially after taking a dovish turn at the June
FOMC meeting which sparked a broad risk-on rally and
overshadowed concerns about slowing (in) the US and global
growth," Stephen Innes, managing partner at Vanguard Markets Pte
Ltd, said in a note to clients.
Market participants also cheered the start of trade talks
between U.S. and Chinese officials on Tuesday, marking a new
round of negotiation after the world's two largest economies
agreed to a truce in a year-long trade war. Thai stocks .SETI rose the most in three weeks, helped by
telecom and energy stocks. Oil explorer PTT PCL PTT.BK gained
1.1%, while Telecom services provider Advanced Info Service PCL
rose 2.4%.
The coalition government plans to discuss economic stimulus
measures to help offset the impact of a delay in the next state
budget, a deputy prime minister said after market hours.
Singapore shares .STI closed higher for the first time in
four sessions, propped up by buying in large caps like Singapore
Telecommunications Ltd STEL.SI and United Overseas Bank Ltd
UOBH.SI .
Philippine stocks .PSI rose in low-volume trade, driven
partly by a 3.2% gain in index heavyweight SM Investment Corp
SM.PS .
Indonesian shares .JKSE advanced, helped by financial and
consumer stocks. Lender Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero)
BBRI.JK rose 1.4%, while conglomerate Astra International
ASII.JK climbed about 2.4%.
Malaysian stocks .KLSE declined, dragged by losses in
industrial and utility stocks.
For Asian Companies click; ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3340.42 3329.46 0.33
Bangkok 1739.43 1721.48 1.04
Manila 8078.21 8042.04 0.45
Jakarta 6410.683 6388.323 0.35
Kuala Lumpur 1678.97 1682.87 -0.23
Ho Chi Minh 973.65 969.05 0.47
Change so far in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3340.42 3068.76 8.85
Bangkok 1739.43 1563.88 11.23
Manila 8078.21 7,466.02 8.20
Jakarta 6410.683 6,194.50 3.49
Kuala Lumpur 1678.97 1690.58 -0.69
Ho Chi Minh 973.65 892.54 9.09