* Vietnam up for seventh session
* Indonesia recovers from early losses, closes up
* Philippines closed for a holiday
By Arundhati Dutta
April 9 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets tracked
global equities to close higher on Thursday, with gains led by
Vietnamese stocks, as investor sentiment was boosted by hopes of
the coronavirus pandemic peaking and stimulus efforts by
governments.
Aiding sentiment, Wall Street notched firm gains overnight
after New York's governor said social distancing measures are
working to keep the pandemic under control in the hard-hit
state. Even as the Trump administration continued to push for an
additional $250 billion in emergency economic aid for small U.S.
businesses, governments and central banks in Southeast Asia also
stepped in to reassure markets.
Vietnamese stocks .VNI extended a six-session winning
streak to hit their highest close in four weeks after the
government approved a plan to delay the collection of 180
trillion dong ($7.6 billion) worth of taxes and land rent to
help businesses. Financials led gains, with the Joint Stock Commercial Bank
for Foreign Trade of Vietnam VCN.HM adding over 5%.
Indonesian shares .JKSE shed early losses to close up 0.5%
and the rupiah IDR=ID firmed over 2% after the central bank
governor said he expected the country's foreign exchange
reserves to increase, adding that the currency would also
strengthen by the end of the year. Consumer discretionary stocks gained the most, with
conglomerate PT Astra International Tbk ASII.JK adding over
6%.
The Singapore benchmark .STI ended 1.3% higher, lifted by
gains in heavyweight financials such as United Overseas Bank Ltd
UOBH.SI and DBS Group Holdings Ltd DBSM.SI .
The Thai index .SETI closed 0.4% higher, with gains in
financials boosting the index after two of the country's top
banks, Kasikornbank KBANK.BK and Siam Commercial Bank
SCB.BK , cut their loan rates by 40 bps. This fuelled gains in the financial sector, said Sunthorn
Thongthip, Strategist at Kasikorn Securities.
"I think other banks will follow soon. This would help save
companies which borrow from banks due to lower funding cost, "
Thongthip said.
The Malaysian index .KLSE gained 0.6% while Philippine
markets .PSI were closed for a holiday.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the
day
Market Current Previous Pct Move
close
Singapore 2571.32 2539.44 1.26
Bangkok 1210.48 1205.77 0.39
Jakarta 4649.079 4626.695 0.48
Kuala Lumpur 1369.76 1361.39 0.61
Ho Chi Minh 760.33 748.02 1.65
Change so far
in 2020
Market Current End 2019 Pct Move
Singapore 2571.32 3222.83 -20.22
Bangkok 1210.48 1579.84 -23.38
Jakarta 4649.079 6,299.54 -26.20
Kuala Lumpur 1369.76 1588.76 -13.78
Ho Chi Minh 760.33 960.99 -20.88