SE Asia Stocks-Indonesia falls amid data jitters; Thai shares up on technicals

Sept 2 (Reuters) - Indonesian stocks slid on Monday,

underperforming in Southeast Asia as accelerating inflation in

August and a record trade deficit in July triggered a new round

of selling, while Thai stocks edged up as market players hunted

for bargains in oversold blue chips.

Jakarta's Composite Index pared earlier gains,

falling to 4,105.73 by midday, with trading volume at about

two-thirds of a full-day average over the past 30 sessions.

Selling hit shares in large caps such as Bank Mandiri

and Semen Indonesia which led Jakarta's

rebound late last week after Indonesia's central bank took steps

to shore up the rupiah.

"...clearly the widening deficit will weigh on external

stability fears. Inflows could return once risk aversion fades,"

said Eugene Leow, a Singapore-based economist with DBS Bank.

The Thai SET index was up 0.8 percent by the midday

trading break, breaching the 1,300 key resistance level in

relatively light volume.

Investors bought large caps such as Airports of Thailand Pcl

which was among the stocks hit during the index's 9

percent drop last month, its worst since September 2011.

The benchmark looked set to be volatile, said CIMB equities

strategist Teerawut Kanniphakul in Bangkok.

"It's mostly trading and short-covering activities, with

technical indicators quite compelling at this point. Some

fundamental concerns may limit a market rally," Teerawut said.

The market brushed off Thailand's weaker-than-expected

inflation for August, which economists said was adding to

concerns over slowing domestic consumption and broader growth of

domestic economy.

The Philippine main index, which was among the

region's underperformers in August, erased earlier gains to

trade lower.

Other stock markets in the region were mixed after their

weak performance in August, partly hit by expectations of a

scaling back in U.S. monetary stimulus. Malaysia's benchmark

was down 0.5 percent while Singapore's key index

was up 0.6 percent.

Short covering interest was relatively active in regional

large caps battered down last month, including shares in

Singapore-listed United Overseas Bank Ltd and

Philippine SM Investments Corp.

Vietnam is shut for a public holiday and will reopen on

Tuesday.

For Asian Companies click;

For South East Asia Hot Stock reports, click;

SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change at 0626 GMT

Market Current Prev Close Pct Move

TR SE Asia Index* 381.43 381.01 +0.11

Singapore 3046.91 3028.94 +0.59

Kuala Lumpur 1718.31 1727.58 -0.54

Bangkok 1304.00 1294.30 +0.75

Jakarta 4105.73 4195.09 -2.13

Manila 6064.46 6075.17 -0.18