SE Asia Stocks-End higher; Philippines up for third straight session

* Thai shares gain for 6th session in 7

* Malaysia up for 4th straight session

By Syed Saif Hussain Naqvi

July 26 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose

on Thursday, with Philippines extending gains to a third

straight session, as negotiations between the United States and

Europe over reducing trade barriers calmed fears of a

transatlantic trade war.

Trade talks between the two sides included scrapping auto

tariffs on European carmakers, while also seeking to resolve

U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium, among others

Philippine shares ended over 2 percent higher, with

industrials and real estate stocks accounting for more than half

the index gains. SM Investments Corp and SM Prime

Holdings closed 3.9 percent and 3.3 percent higher,

respectively.

The Philippine central bank will resume cutting the reserve

requirement ratio next year, in line with its goal, and bring it

down to single digit levels, its governor said on Thursday.

"The move would in a way spur economic growth for the

country since more funds are released into the system, but it

also adds inflationary concerns for the market" said AB Capital

Securities analyst Lexter Azurin.

"The reserve requirement for Philippines is quite high and

the move is basically to be in line with other financial

industries in the region" added Azurin

The finance-heavy Singapore benchmark ended slightly

higher, led by top lenders DBS Group Holdings, United

Overseas Bank and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp

.

Singapore's industrial production rose 7.4 percent in June,

led by gains in marine and offshore sector, data showed on

Thursday.

The Thai index ended 0.7 percent higher, its sixth

session of gain in seven, on the back of energy and financials.

Siam Commercial Bank, up 1.9 percent, and PTT Pcl

, up 0.5 percent, were among the top contributors.

Malaysian shares ended marginally higher with gains

in utilities outweighing losses in telecommunication stocks.

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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change on the day

Market Current Previous close Pct Move

Singapore 3328.6 3326.83 0.05

Bangkok 1701.87 1690.08 0.70

Manila 7665.85 7514 2.02

Jakarta 5946.136 5933.889 0.21

Kuala Lumpur 1766.23 1763.78 0.14

Ho Chi Minh 930.16 927.58 0.28

Change on year

Market Current End 2017 Pct Move

Singapore 3328.6 3402.92 -2.18

Bangkok 1701.87 1753.71 -2.96

Manila 7665.85 8558.42 -10.43

Jakarta 5946.136 6355.654 -6.44

Kuala Lumpur 1766.23 1796.81 -1.70

Ho Chi Minh 930.16 984.24 -5.49

(Reporting by Syed Saif Hussain Naqvi in Bengaluru; Editing by

Vyas Mohan)