SE Asia Stocks-Indonesia climbs ahead of c.bank decision; Malaysia up

* Consumer, utilities buoy Malaysian stocks

* Singapore snaps three sessions of losses

By Karthika Suresh Namboothiri

May 17 (Reuters) - Indonesian shares edged higher on

Thursday ahead of the central bank's decision on interest rates

due later in the day, while consumer and utility stocks drove

Malaysian stocks up.

Jakarta's main index climbed 0.7 percent with

Telekom Indonesia gaining over 3 percent and mining

contractor United Tractors rising as much as 4.1

percent.

A Reuters poll showed that Bank Indonesia would raise

benchmark interest rates to support the rupiah, which has

lost more than 5 percent against the dollar since late January.

In Malaysia, the Mahathir Mohamad-led government said it

will introduce a sales and service tax to partly offset the

shortfall in revenue from effectively scrapping GST (general

sales tax) from June.

Kuala Lumpur's main index rose as much as half a

percent with Genting Bhd gaining as much as 5.4 pct.

Gas processor Petronas Gas Bhd was up as much as 2.5

percent.

"Earnings wise, this (zero-rating of GST) will be positive

for consumer, automotive, banking and finance sectors via either

higher volumes or margin expansion as these businesses would no

longer have to absorb the GST," analysts at Malaysia's Maybank

IB Research said in a note.

Gross domestic product data released by the central bank was

weaker than expected in the first quarter.

Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Singapore shares snapped

three sessions of losses and rose as much as 0.5 percent.

Thai Beverage gained as much as 1.3 percent while

Singapore Telecommunications climbed 0.6 percent.

The city-state's non-oil domestic exports rose sharply in

April, beating expectations, thanks to a surge in

pharmaceuticals sales.

Meanwhile, Philippines shed as much as 0.9 percent,

hurt by losses in industrials and financials.

Ayala Corp fell over 3 percent, while SM Investment

Corp was down as much as 1.7 percent.

Vietnamese shares slid 0.9 percent with real estate

stocks leading the losses. Vingroup Joint Stock co,

down 4.6 percent, was the biggest drag.

For Asian Companies click;

SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS AS AT 0445 GMT

Change on the day

Market Current Previous close Pct Move

Singapore 3536.13 3533.05 0.09

Bangkok 1754.01 1750.62 0.19

Manila 7804.94 7869.56 -0.82

Jakarta 5893.781 5841.464 0.90

Kuala Lumpur 1863.17 1858.26 0.26

Ho Chi Minh 1047.07 1054.62 -0.72

Change on year

Market Current End 2017 Pct Move

Singapore 3536.13 3402.92 3.91

Bangkok 1754.01 1753.71 0.02

Manila 7804.94 8558.42 -8.80

Jakarta 5893.781 6355.654 -7.27

Kuala Lumpur 1863.17 1796.81 3.69

Ho Chi Minh 1047.07 984.24 6.38

(Reporting by Karthika Suresh Namboothiri; Editing by Vyas

Mohan)