* Malaysia stock market closed for holiday
* Indonesia sees best session in almost 2 weeks
* Thai June factory output worse than f'cast
By Anushka Trivedi
July 30 (Reuters) - Philippine shares fell on Tuesday as
investors locked in profits in heavyweight stocks, while other
Southeast Asian markets were tepid ahead of the U.S. Federal
Reserve's policy meeting.
The benchmark Philippine stock index .PSI declined 0.8%,
with SM Investments Corp SM.PS and Universal Robina Corp
URC.PS weighing on the index ahead of their quarterly results
later this week.
Prospects of monetary policy easing by the Philippine
central bank and a widely expected rate cut by the Fed have
helped keep the index buoyant for the past four months, with the
benchmark on track for its biggest monthly gain since March.
"Banks have been quite strong, but there are a lot of big
names that are about to release their results... So, I think the
market is just waiting for those results as catalysts before
putting bigger positions," said Fio Dejesus, an equity research
analyst at RCBC Securities.
Other Southeast Asian markets traded in a tight range ahead
of the Fed Policy meeting starting later in the day.
A 25 basis point cut has mostly been factored in and
investors now await the conclusion of the meeting on Wednesday
to gauge the direction the Fed will take in the near-term.
Market participants also kept a tab on the fresh round of
dialogue between top officials from the United States and China
in Shanghai to deescalate the tariff dispute.
Indonesia's main board .JKSE logged its best intraday gain
in almost two weeks, on the back of telecom and material stocks.
Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Persero) Tbk PT TLKM.JK rose
2.1% and PT Steel Pipe Industry of Indonesia Tbk ISSP.JK
jumped 10.8% to its highest in over five months.
An index of Jakarta's 45 most liquid stocks .JKLQ45 rose
0.6%.
Thai shares .SETI were little changed with data showing
factory output missed forecasts in June. The country's manufacturing production index (MPI) in June
fell 5.54% from a year earlier, dragged down by lower production
of cars, rubber products and petroleum.
Malaysia's stock market .KLSE was closed for a holiday.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3351.7 3346.39 0.16
Bangkok 1713.83 1717.97 -0.24
Manila 8123.96 8188.52 -0.79
Jakarta 6333.59 6299.035 0.55
Ho Chi Minh 997.82 997.94 -0.01
Change so far in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3351.7 3068.76 9.22
Bangkok 1713.83 1563.88 9.59
Manila 8123.96 7,466.02 8.81
Jakarta 6333.59 6,194.50 2.25
Kuala Lumpur 1642.69 1690.58 -2.83
Ho Chi Minh 997.82 892.54 11.80