* Energy stocks help Thailand rise
* Singapore falls on telecom, consumer stocks
By Soumyajit Saha
Aug 28 (Reuters) - Philippine stocks rose over 1% on
Wednesday, recovering from the previous session's sharp fall on
hopes of positive news from President Rodrigo Duterte's visit to
China, while other Southeast Asian markets were tepid amid
lingering trade war worries.
The benchmark Manila stock index .PSI closed 1.3% higher,
helped the real estate sector. It had declined 1.8% on Tuesday
amid fears the government may halt online gambling operations.
The market benefited from expectations of positive
developments regarding China's call for a ban on online gaming
companies in the Philippines, during Duterte's visit to Beijing,
said Rachelle Cruz, a research analyst with AP Securities.
Offshore gaming operations, or POGOs, have benefited the
Philippine economy immensely, boosting property demand and
retail spending. Meanwhile, other Southeast Asian markets traded in a tight
range as a trade dispute between the United States and China
drags on.
Beijing on Tuesday denied there had been any recent phone
calls with U.S. officials, effectively refuting Washington's
earlier claim that there had been contact. China's top trade negotiator, Liu He, though had said on
Monday that his country was looking for "calm" negotiations to
resolve the dispute. Market participants "seemed to be getting tired of the
volatility caused by trade-related headlines", said Liu Jinshu,
director of research at Singapore-based Tayrona Financial Pte
Ltd.
The outlook is pretty mixed as the market seems to be
waiting out the implementation of tariffs in September or
further action from the U.S. Federal Reserve before making
moves, Liu added.
Trading volumes were also low as a deepening inversion of
the U.S. bond yield curve a day earlier stoked fears of a
recession. Thai stocks .SETI rose slightly, helped most by the energy
sector. Gas explorer and distributor PTT PCL PTT.BK advanced
0.6%, while PTT Exploration and Production PCL PTTEP.BK gained
1.3%.
Optimism from the Thailand Focus investor summit helped
markets while the energy sector benefited from an upturn in oil
prices, said Teerada Charnyinyong, an investment strategist with
Phillip Capital Thailand.
Telecom and consumer stocks dragged Singapore's benchmark
index .STI down slightly.
Singapore Telecommunications STEL.SI lost 1.6%, while
conglomerate Jardine Cycle & Carriage JCYC.SI was down 1.9%.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3056.47 3067.52 -0.36
Bangkok 1616.93 1615.47 0.09
Manila 7847.5 7747.38 1.29
Jakarta 6281.646 6278.171 0.06
Kuala Lumpur 1589.82 1590.84 -0.06
Ho Chi Minh 977.26 976.79 0.05
Change so far in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3056.47 3068.76 -0.40
Bangkok 1616.93 1563.88 3.39
Manila 7847.5 7,466.02 5.11
Jakarta 6281.646 6,194.50 1.41
Kuala Lumpur 1589.82 1690.58 -5.96
Ho Chi Minh 977.26 892.54 9.49