SE Asia Stocks - Retreat; Philippines off record high before holiday

BANGKOK, April 8 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets

fell on Wednesday as overbought Philippine stocks snapped

several days of gains ahead of a public holiday and investors

cashed in recent gains in the region ahead of the quarterly

reporting season.

The Philippine index eased 0.8 percent after having

hit record closing highs in each of the previous seven sessions.

Shares of Globe Telecom, the most actively traded,

dropped 2 percent after Tuesday's rally to a record high.

The selling took the index off overbought territory, with

the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) at 67 from Tuesday's

close of 75.8. A level above 70 indicates an overbought

condition.

The market will be closed on Thursday for a public holiday,

and will reopen on Friday.

Stocks in Malaysia and Indonesia reversed

from recent rallies while Singapore retreated ahead of

companies' quarterly earnings in coming weeks.

Investors had mopped up shares in the region on expectations

the Federal Reserve would hold off its interest rate hike after

weak U.S. jobs data.

The Fed will release minutes from its March 17-18 monetary

policy meeting on Wednesday, which should shed light on its

internal debate over the rate hike plans.

In Bangkok, brokers advised investors to cut risk ahead of

the long Songkran holiday next week. Coal miner Banpu

slipped 1.6 percent after seven sessions of gains while bank

shares were up 0.4 percent ahead of Jan-March results.

"We believe their performance will grow both QoQ and YoY but

at an unexciting pace. Prices of banking counters have been

correcting since the beginning of this year and have largely

priced in lacklustre earnings prospects," strategists at broker

Maybank Kim Eng Securities wrote in a report.

In Asia, Japanese shares were probing 15-year peaks

on Wednesday as investors favoured Asian assets on expectations

of more stimulus from countries such as China and Japan, as well

as a delayed start to any tightening by the Federal Reserve.

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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change at 0610 GMT

Market Current Prev Close Pct Move

Singapore 3457.24 3465.62 -0.24

Kuala Lumpur 1849.60 1856.51 -0.37

Bangkok 1550.65 1549.53 +0.07

Jakarta 5497.85 5523.29 -0.46

Manila 8037.62 8098.68 -0.75

Ho Chi Minh 547.59 548.11 -0.09

(Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap; Editing by Sunil Nair)