SE Asia Stocks -Edge up; Jakarta gains to 3-wk high; Bumi in focus

Aug 12 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets gained

for a second session on Tuesday as investors temporarily

shrugged off geopolitical concerns, with Indonesia at a

three-week high and Singapore edging up on better-than-expected

second-quarter growth.

The Jakarta Composite Index was up 0.4 percent by

midday led by Telkom Indonesia, which was up 0.9

percent after a government proposal to eliminate the Universal

Service Obligation (USO), which is currently at 1.25 percent of

sales.

Shares in Indonesia's largest thermal coal miner PT Bumi

Resources TBk rose as much as 6.6 percent in early

trade after having fallen 10 percent in the last four sessions.

Bumi on Monday said it will pay the 9.25 percent coupon of

its $375 million debt on Aug. 12 before meeting with bondholders

on Aug. 22 to renegotiate its terms.

"The market is positively responding to the company's plan

to pay the coupon of its bond, even though many doubt they will

have the money to settle the debt even if they have to sell

asset," said Reza Priyambada, head of research at Trust

Securities in Jakarta.

Analysts, however, expect a fall in the index during the

week on an expected worsening of the current account deficit in

the second quarter, for which data is scheduled to be released

on Friday, and talks over cutting the fuel subsidy.

The Singapore index was up 0.1 percent at 0619 GMT

led by banks after the city-state posted a 2.4 percent economic

growth, slightly up from the 2.1 percent expansion cited in the

government's advance estimate and avoiding a quarterly

contraction.

DBS Group Holdings Ltd and United Overseas Bank

Ltd, which rose 0.6 percent each, helped boost the

overall index.

Malaysia was steady while the Philippines was

up 0.3 percent.

Vietnam's benchmark VN Index dipped 0.5 percent as

investors sold some of their holdings to take profit.

Thailand was closed for a second day for a public holiday.

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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change at 0619 GMT

Market Current Prev Close Pct Move

TR SE Asia Index* 438.60 438.13 +0.11

Singapore 3309.17 3306.45 +0.08

Kuala Lumpur 1849.43 1849.32 +0.01

Jakarta 5133.34 5113.24 +0.39

Manila 6973.99 6956.66 +0.25

Ho Chi Minh 599.33 602.13 -0.47

* The Thomson Reuters South East Asia Index is a

highly representative indicator of stocks listed in Indonesia,

Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

(Reporting by Shihar Aneez in New Delhi and Fransiska Nangoy in

Jakarta; Editing by Sunil Nair)