SE Asia Stocks-Indonesia shares rebound; election result in focus

SINGAPORE, April 11 (Reuters) - Indonesian shares rose on

Friday amid bargain hunting in battered large caps as investors

weighed political uncertainties after an unconvincing election

win by the main opposition party.

After Thursday's sell-off that wiped more than 3 percent off

the Jakarta Composite Index, some investors selectively

bought shares of blue chip firms.

The benchmark was up 0.4 percent at midday, heading for a

weekly fall of 1.5 percent after two consecutive weeks of gains.

"We are likely to see more foreign selling today. It is time

to buy on weakness ... We suggest investors buy stocks with

nearer-term catalysts such as good first quarter result,"

strategists at Trimegah Securities wrote in a report.

Shares of Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Bank Mandiri

and Astra International rebounded from

oversold conditions the previous session.

Shares of agribusinses firm Wahana Pronatural and

marine port services company Tanah Laut, which surged

17.5 percent and 10 percent, respectively, were the top two

boosts on the index after their losses on Thursday.

Initial results showed the Indonesian Democratic

Party-Struggle (PDI-P) won just less than 20 percent of the

votes in the parliamentary election, the biggest of any party

but below a threshold needed to nominate its own presidential

candidate.

This will likely force it to find allies to back its

candidate, Jakarta governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, in a July vote

for president of Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

The formal result of the legislative election will not be

announced until early May, a little before the May 10 deadline

for parties to nominate their candidates for the presidency.

Analysts said the presidential vote could be forced to go

into a second round.

"He's probably still going to win the presidential election,

but he'll have less freedom to choose his running mate. There's

a high possibility of coalition allies," said a Singapore-based

trader.

The rupiah fell nearly 1 percent to 11,460 per

dollar, its weakest since March 12, on selling from foreign and

local banks, while importers bought dollars for payments.

Other Southeast Asian stock markets edged lower as an

escalating sell-off on Wall Street spread to Asia and battered

markets that had been fairly resilient up to now.

Investors were also rattled after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang

ruled out major stimulus in the world's second-largest economy

following weak trade data in March.

Stocks in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand

are poised for modest losses on the week after their

rallies over the past weeks. The Philippines and Vietnam

are set to edge slightly higher on the week.

Investors in Bangkok consolidated recent gains in a holiday

thinned market. The Thai market will be closed on Monday and

Tuesday for a public holiday.

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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change at 0718 GMT

Market Current Prev Close Pct Move

TR SE Asia Index* 415.78 417.74 -0.47

Singapore 3199.85 3203.58 -0.12

Kuala Lumpur 1849.65 1859.52 -0.53

Bangkok 1385.30 1389.56 -0.31

Jakarta 4793.92 4765.73 +0.59

Manila 6594.63 6638.89 -0.67

Ho Chi Minh 601.75 601.33 +0.07

(Reporting by Andrew Toh; Editing by xxxx)