SE Asia Stocks -Thai shares rebound; Indonesia at 11-month highs

BANGKOK, May 14 (Reuters) - Thai shares rose on Wednesday on

bargain-hunting after five sessions of losses while stocks in

Indonesia jumped to their highest in more than 11 months after

Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo boosted his chances in the July

presidential election.

Investors were lured by hopes of a solution to Thailand's

political impasse and the recent selloffs in risk assets that

pulled valuations of large caps to a relatively low level.

The Thai SET index was up 0.8 percent, recovering

some of the 3.3 percent loss since May 2. Gainers included

Kasikornbank Pcl which was among the beaten-down

stocks last week in the wake of foreign investor-led selling.

Shares of 50 large caps traded at 13.95 times

price-to-earnings compared with Indonesia's 16.57

times and the Philippines' 20.35 times, Thomson Reuters data

showed.

"Domestic events like the first quarter 2014 earnings and

the first quarter 2014 GDP are widely forecasted to be weak, so

politics will be the only focal point," strategists at broker

KGI Securities wrote in a report.

Thailand's Senate met on Tuesday to try to find a solution

to protracted political turmoil, with both sides putting

pressure on the only legislative assembly still functioning in

the polarised country.

Jakarta's composite index (JCI) was up 0.9 percent

at 4,964.79, the highest since June 7. The rally boosted its

year-to-date gain to 16.2 percent, Asia's second-best performer

after the Philippine index.

Foreign investors have bought Indonesian shares a net 35

trillion rupiah ($3.03 billion) so far this year after they

offloaded about 21 trillion rupiah in full year 2013.

The market rally on Wednesday came after popular Joko

"Jokowi" secured the support of the country's second-largest

political party.

Technically, the index formed an overbought territory and

could trigger profit-taking ahead of a market holiday on

Thursday, said Trimegah Securities. JCI's 14-day Relative

Strength Index was 68.3 versus an overbought line of 70 or

above.

Other markets in Southeast Asia gained support from the

positive sentiment in Asia, as a weaker-than-expected U.S.

retail sales report on Tuesday did little to change views the

economy was poised for faster growth this quarter.

In Manila, shares trimmed early gains thanks to weaknesses

in the country's second-biggest company by market value, SM

Investments Corp, which reported a 16 percent fall in

first-quarter net income.

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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change at 0431 GMT

Market Current Prev Close Pct Move

TR SE Asia Index* 421.92 417.43 +1.08

Singapore 3253.86 3222.43 +0.98

Kuala Lumpur 1874.91 1866.08 +0.47

Bangkok 1385.59 1375.14 +0.76

Jakarta 4964.79 4921.39 +0.88

Manila 6895.90 6852.81 +0.63

Ho Chi Minh 521.01 513.91 +1.38

* The Thomson Reuters South East Asia Index is a

highly representative indicator of stocks listed in Indonesia,

Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

($1 = 11536.5000 Indonesian Rupiahs)

(Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap; Additional reporting by

Eveline Danubrata in JAKARTA; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)