SE Asia Stocks-Fall on looming worries of U.S.-China trade spat

* Equities hit by White House statement on trade with China

* Philippine shares fall most

* Thai index gains on energy, financials

By Aaron Saldanha

March 15 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets lost

ground on Thursday, tracking Wall Street overnight, as trade war

fears intensified on reports U.S. President Donald Trump would

seek fresh tariffs on imports from China.

On Wednesday, a White House spokeswoman said the Trump

administration is pressing China to cut its trade surplus with

the United States by $100 billion, without specifying how it

should be narrowed.

The surplus-cutting goal may be met by increased purchases

of U.S. products such as soybeans or aircraft, or if China makes

major changes to its industrial policies, cuts subsidies to

state-owned enterprises or further reduces steel and aluminium

capacity.

The tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese imports will

target the technology and telecommunications sectors, two people

who had discussed the issue with the Trump administration said

on Tuesday.

The three major U.S. indexes slipped by as much as 1 percent

on Wednesday, while Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

dropped as much as 0.5 percent as investors

moved to bonds.

In Southeast Asia, Philippine shares hit a more than

three-month low, on broad-based losses. BDO Unibank

fell as much as 2.3 percent.

Malaysia fell as much as 0.6 percent, weighed down

by consumer staples and financials. Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd

fell as much as 11.4 percent.

The Singapore index lost 0.6 percent, hurt by losses

in financials and industrials. Lenders DBS Group Holdings Ltd

, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd and United

Overseas Bank Ltd fell between 0.6 percent and 1.5

percent.

The Indonesian benchmark slipped as much as 0.9

percent to its lowest since early January, on weakness in

financials and telecom stocks.

Telekomunikasi Indonesia's fell 1.7 percent,

weighing the most on the index.

An index of the country's 45 most liquid stocks

lost 0.7 percent.

Thai shares rose on strong performance in energy

stocks and financials. Oil and gas company PTT PCL

gained up to 0.7 percent.

For Asian Companies click;

SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS: Change as at 0341 GMT

Market Current Previous close Pct Move

Singapore 3516.84 3539.41 -0.64

Bangkok 1816.3 1813.4 0.16

Manila 8270.78 8348.74 -0.93

Jakarta 6350.011 6382.623 -0.51

Kuala Lumpur 1851.99 1857.06 -0.27

Ho Chi Minh 1133.41 1138.09 -0.41

Change on year

Market Current End 2017 Pct Move

Singapore 3516.84 3402.92 3.35

Bangkok 1816.3 1753.71 3.57

Manila 8270.78 8558.42 -3.36

Jakarta 6350.011 6355.654 -0.09

Kuala Lumpur 1851.99 1796.81 3.07

Ho Chi Minh 1133.41 984.24 15.16

(Reporting by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru; Editing by Biju

Dwarakanath)