* Sino-U.S. trade talks set to start on Thursday
* Philippine c.bank gov signals end of rate cuts for 2019
* Singapore set to snap two sessions of gains
By Soumyajit Saha
Oct 9 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets dropped
on Wednesday, as tensions between the United States and China
heightened hours ahead of high-level negotiations, denting hopes
of a trade deal.
Washington imposed visa restrictions on Chinese government
and Communist Party officials over abuses of Muslim minorities.
The move came only hours after the Trump administration widened
its trade blacklist to include some of China's top artificial
intelligence startups.
High-level talks between the world's top two economies on
trade are due to resume on Thursday. The negotiations, which are
the global markets' most important catalyst for months, have
weighed on investor sentiment.
"The movement is definitely reactionary given that there is
little expectations of a deal now, and we will also have to look
out for a Chinese retaliation," said Joel Ng, an analyst with
KGI Securities.
"I think more bad news is yet to come."
Philippine stocks .PSI shed previous session's rally to
drop as much as 1% after the central bank said that last month's
rate cut could be the last of 2019. The biggest laggards in the index were real estate and
consumer sectors. Property developer SM Prime Holdings SMPH.PS
was down 1.7%, while conglomerate SM Investments Corp SM.PS
fell 1%.
Singapore shares .STI were on track to snap two sessions
of gains, dragged by industrial and financial sectors.
Lender DBS Group Holdings DBSM.SI was trading 0.8% down,
while conglomerate Jardine Matheson Holdings JARD.SI lost
1.4%.
Losses in the banking and healthcare sectors weighed on
Malaysian stocks .KLSE , with Malayan Banking MBBM.KL falling
0.6%, while hospital operator IHH Healthcare IHHH.KL dropped
0.7%.
Bucking the sombre mood, Vietnam index .VNI traded
marginally higher.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS AS AT 0400 GMT
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous Pct Move
close
Singapore 3098.06 3110.85 -0.41
Bangkok 1607.07 1612.17 -0.32
Manila 7700.45 7756.72 -0.73
Jakarta 6033.072 6039.601 -0.11
Kuala Lumpur 1551.38 1558.79 -0.48
Ho Chi Minh 989.87 988.22 0.17
Change so far in
2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3098.06 3068.76 0.95
Bangkok 1607.07 1563.88 2.76
Manila 7700.45 7,466.02 3.14
Jakarta 6033.072 6,194.50 -2.61
Kuala Lumpur 1551.38 1690.58 -8.23
Ho Chi Minh 989.87 892.54 10.90