SE Asia Stocks-Most climb as trade war fears take a back seat, Philippines extends fall

* Most gain as trade war fears abate

* Singapore climbs for sixth straight session

* Philippines declines ahead of central bank rate decision

By Devika Syamnath

Sept 26 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets took

a breather from recent trade war fears to inch up on Wednesday

in line with wider Asian peers, though the Philippines

continued to fall ahead of its central bank policy meeting on

Thursday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting takes centre

stage on the global platform, with a widely expected rate hike

to be announced later in the day.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

gained 0.4 percent.

Singapore stocks rallied for a sixth straight

session, up as much as 0.7 percent, with heavyweights like

United Overseas Bank Ltd and DBS Group Holdings Ltd

advancing 1.7 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

The city-state's August industrial production data is due

later in the day.

Indonesian shares climbed as much as 0.4 percent,

with consumer stocks aiding most of the rise.

Heavyweight Astra International Tbk added as much

as 2.1 percent and consumer goods maker Unilever Indonesia

rose 1.3 percent.

"Indonesia's central bank begins their two-day-long policy

meeting today with our expectation that the benchmark rate will

be increased by 50 bps," said OCBC in a note to clients.

Thai stocks advanced as much as 0.4 percent with

energy and consumer staples leading.

Oil and gas company PTT PCL was the top boost to

the benchmark, having climbed up to 0.9 percent to its best

level in over 4 months.

Bucking the regional trend, Philippine shares lost up

to 0.9 percent, with financials and industrial stocks leading

the fall.

SM Investments declined up to 1.6 percent while BDO

Unibank tracked over 2 percent lower.

"The sell-off in Philippine equities is due to a number a

factors including expectations of higher inflation, the expected

rate hike by the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas), and

macroeconomic factors such as the impact of the trade war and

higher oil prices, " said Rachelle C. Cruz, analyst at

Manila-based AP Securities.

The Philippine central bank is widely expected to raise its

key interest rate by another 50 basis points on Thursday, in a

bid to tamp down inflationary pressures, which have been

steadily rising since January due to higher taxes, a weak peso,

and rising food and fuel costs.

"Till the peso's fall is tempered, we might not see any big

rally in Philippine equities," added Cruz.

The finance minister of the Philippines said on Tuesday the

main concern for him was the recent rise in oil prices, a view

echoed by Cruz who said oil's recent rally adds to pressure on

Philippines, a net importer of oil.

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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change on day

Market Current Previous Close Pct Move

Singapore 3255.29 3236.08 0.59

Bangkok 1751.93 1747.99 0.23

Manila 7274 7332.17 -0.79

Jakarta 5900.327 5874.299 0.44

Kuala Lumpur 1795.86 1794.47 0.08

Ho Chi Minh 1011.01 1010.74 0.03

Change on year

Market Current End 2017 Pct Move

Singapore 3255.29 3402.92 -4.34

Bangkok 1751.93 1753.71 -0.10

Manila 7274 8558.42 -15.01

Jakarta 5900.327 6355.654 -7.16

Kuala Lumpur 1795.86 1796.81 -0.05

Ho Chi Minh 1011.01 984.24 2.72

(Reporting by Devika Syamnath in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil

Nair)