* Philippines task force backs easing Manila lockdown
* Thailand set to gain for 4th day
* Singapore & Malaysia inch lower
By Arundhati Dutta
May 28 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose
on Thursday as signs of economic recovery from the COVID-19
pandemic offset concerns across the region about a rise in
Sino-U.S. tensions over Hong Kong and trade.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.6%. Stocks in China .CSI300 rose
0.44% while shares in Hong Kong .HSI fell 0.23%.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Congress on
Wednesday that Hong Kong no longer qualifies for its special
status under U.S. law - potentially worsening relations between
the world's two biggest economies. A trade war blow-up could only make things worse as the
world struggles with possibly the worst recession, according to
Robert Carnell, Regional Head of Research, Asia-Pacific at ING.
In Southeast Asia, Indonesian equities .JKSE led the gains
and rose as much as 2%, with the financial sector contributing
to nearly three-fourths of the index's gains.
PT Bank Central Asia Tbk BBCA.JK and PT Bank Mandiri
(Persero) Tbk BMRI.JK were up more than 5% each.
In the Philippines, the coronavirus task force backed easing
one of the toughest and longest lockdowns in the world in the
capital of Manila, which has so far endured nearly 11 weeks of
restrictions. The benchmark .PSI rose up to 0.9%, with big cap financial
stocks Security Bank Corp SECB.PS and BDO Unibank Inc BDO.PS
rising 8.6% and 4.6%, respectively.
Thai shares .SETI were up for a fourth day, while the
Vietnamese index .VNI added as much as 0.6%. Both indexes were
lifted by gains in financials.
Shares in Malaysia .KLSE and Singapore .STI inched
slightly down.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS AS AT 0354 GMT
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the
day
Market Current Previous Pct Move
close
Singapore 2515.97 2519.48 -0.14
Bangkok 1349.85 1345.11 0.35
Manila 5557.78 5523.78 0.62
Jakarta 4732.98 4641.555 1.97
Kuala Lumpur 1451.23 1451.73 -0.03
Ho Chi Minh 861.3 857.48 0.45
Change so far
in 2020
Market Current End 2019 Pct Move
Singapore 2515.97 3222.83 -21.93
Bangkok 1349.85 1579.84 -14.56
Manila 5557.78 7,815.26 -28.89
Jakarta 4732.98 6,299.54 -24.87
Kuala Lumpur 1451.23 1588.76 -8.66
Ho Chi Minh 861.3 960.99 -10.37