* Thailand nearly flat as energy, banking stocks drag
* Indonesia snaps four sessions of losses
By Soumyajit Saha
Aug 7 (Reuters) - Philippine and Indonesian shares gained
more than 1% Wednesday, after Beijing and Washington stepped up
to ease escalating trade war tensions, while Malaysia fell
dragged down by consumer stocks.
Chinese authorities intervened to steady the yuan on Tuesday
after letting it slide to its lowest in over a decade on the
previous day, which had sparked accusations of currency
manipulation from the United States and threatened to spread the
trade war into the currency space. U.S. President Donald Trump then played down fears of a
protraction in the trade war, tweeting that "massive amounts of
money from China and other parts of the world" were coming into
the U.S. economy. "Acceleration towards an all-out trade war between the U.S.
and China appears to have been averted, at least for the
moment," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at VM Markets Pte
Ltd.
Real estate and banking stocks pushed up Philippine's
benchmark .PSI more than 1%. Property developer SM Prime
Holdings SMPH.PS rose 1.7%, while lender BDO Unibank advanced
1.4%.
Philippines' trade deficit narrowed as imports fell 10.4%,
while exports grew 1.5%. The banking sector helped Indonesian shares .JKSE gain,
with lenders Bank Central Asia BBCA.JK and Bank Rakyat
Indonesia (Persero) BBRI.JK rising 1.6% each.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian index .KLSE fell, hurt by losses
in the consumer cyclical sector.
Tourism company Genting Malaysia Bhd GENM.KL and related
group Genting Bhd GENT.KL fell 10.8% and 5.3%, respectively,
after Genting Malaysia decided to acquire and privatise the
loss-making Empire Resorts Inc NYNY.O .
Thai stocks .SETI also edged marginally lower, hurt by
losses in the energy and banking sectors.
Lender Bank of Ayudhya BAY.BK fell 1.3%, while oil
explorer PTT Exploration and Production PTTEP.BK lost 1.2%.
Thailand's central bank is widely expected to hold its
benchmark rate steady in a meeting later today, a Reuters poll
showed, despite slowing growth and easing moves by its regional
peers. Energy stocks were also hurt by the a drop in oil prices
overnight, as escalating trade war fears had ignited worries
over demand. O/R
For Asian Companies click;
SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS as on 0408 GMT
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3173.22 3170.47 0.09
Bangkok 1671.38 1671.48 -0.01
Manila 7846.92 7766.75 1.03
Jakarta 6207.327 6119.471 1.44
Kuala Lumpur 1605.22 1611.79 -0.41
Ho Chi Minh 966.63 964.61 0.21
Change so far in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3173.22 3068.76 3.40
Bangkok 1671.38 1563.88 6.87
Manila 7846.92 7,466.02 5.10
Jakarta 6207.327 6,194.50 0.21
Kuala Lumpur 1605.22 1690.58 -5.05
Ho Chi Minh 966.63 892.54 8.30