* Philippine Sept inflation slows more than expected
* Indonesia snaps five straight sessions of losses
* Malaysian exports miss estimates by a wide margin
By Shreya Mariam Job
Oct 4 (Reuters) - Philippine stocks .PSI jumped over 2% on
Friday, their best in nearly two months, as soft inflation data
raised scopes for policy easing by the central bank, while most
other Southeast Asian stock markets edged lower.
The Philippine headline inflation rate of 0.9% last month
was the slowest in more than three years. It was below the 1.1%
forecast in a Reuters poll and was within the central bank's
0.6% to 1.4% forecast for the month. Inflation peaked at a near-decade high of 6.7% in September
and October last year. Overall prices have since eased, allowing
the central bank to start reversing some of last year's 175
basis points of interest rate hikes.
"With this environment, the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas) has scope to ease policy rates further should other
data points warrant it, but for the most part the price
objective remains well in hand," ING said in a note.
Shares of SM Prime Holdings Inc SMPH.PS rose 4% to a more
than two-month closing high, while Ayala Land ALI.PS climbed
2.7%.
Indonesian stocks .JKSE snapped five consecutive sessions
of losses, buoyed by materials and financials.
Shares of Sinar Mas Multiartha SMMA.JK and Semen Indonesia
SMGR.JK rose 7% and 6.55, respectively.
Other Southeast Asian equity markets edged lower as
investors grew wary ahead of U.S. jobs data and U.S. Federal
Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech. Investors will look for
signals on future rate cuts from these two events.
Malaysian stocks .KLSE closed 0.4% lower, partially
recovering from earlier falls on weak August trade data.
Exports fell 0.8% in August, contracting after an unexpected
rebound in the previous month, and far worse than the 2.5%
increase forecast in a Reuters poll. Among losers, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd KLKK.KL slumped 6.8%
following a block trade of 31.6 million secondary shares of the
plantation company.
Singapore stocks .STI shed 0.3% on the back of financials
and telecoms.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3078.36 3087.97 -0.31
Bangkok 1605.96 1610.69 -0.29
Manila 7704.6 7545.55 2.11
Jakarta 6061.252 6038.529 0.38
Kuala Lumpur 1557.67 1564.12 -0.41
Ho Chi Minh 987.59 989.67 -0.21
Change so far in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3078.36 3068.76 0.31
Bangkok 1605.96 1563.88 2.69
Manila 7704.6 7,466.02 3.20
Jakarta 6061.252 6,194.50 -2.15
Kuala Lumpur 1557.67 1690.58 -7.86
Ho Chi Minh 987.59 892.54 10.65