SE Asia Stocks-Most fall as investors await more trade talk details
* Singapore shares fall ahead of manufacturing data
* Telecom and energy stocks drag Malaysian stocks
By Shriya Ramakrishnan
Feb 26 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets fell
in thin trade on Tuesday, tracking their broader Asian peers as
investors awaited more details on the outcome of Sino-U.S. trade
talks.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday confirmed pushing back
the March 1 deadline for tariff hike on imports from China - the
region's biggest trading partner - but later sounded a note of
caution, saying a deal "could happen fairly soon, or it might
not happen at all."
Asian shares retreated from their gains on
Monday in light of Trump's comments.
"His (Trump's) antagonistic trade polices are far from
rolled back even as Trump suggests a U.S.-China deal in the
offing. Fact is, wider global trade concerns, derived from
Trump's policy of antagonistic, zero sum game approach to global
trade remain," Mizuho Bank said in a note.
Singapore's index fell about 0.2 percent, pressured
by financial and consumer stocks. Trading volumes in the island
state were at a fourth of their 30-day average.
Shares of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd lost
about 0.8 percent, while resort operator Genting Singapore
shed as much as 1.9 percent.
The city-state will release industrial production data later
in the day, amidst a warning from the country's trade ministry
that manufacturing is likely to face significant moderation this
year.
A Reuters poll expects manufacturing output in Singapore to
have fallen 3 percent in January, compared with a 2.7 percent
rise a year earlier.
The Malaysian benchmark slipped 0.4 percent, dragged
by telecom and energy stocks.
Malaysian telecom giant Maxis Bhd dropped 2.4
percent, its worst session in more than two months, while oil
and gas retailer Petronas Dagangan Bhd lost 5 percent.
The Thai index dipped 0.5 percent, hurt by energy
stocks with state energy firm PTT Pcl and PTT
Exploration and Production Pcl dropping 1 percent and
2 percent, respectively.
Oil prices tumbled overnight in their largest daily
percentage drop this year, and were at similar levels for the
day after U.S. President Donald Trump called on OPEC to ease its
efforts to boost crude prices, which he said were "getting too
high".
Philippine stocks, which resumed trading after a
holiday, were up 0.3 percent, while Vietnam shares fell
0.3 percent.
For Asian Companies click;
SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS AS AT 0406 GMT
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3264.96 3272.35 -0.23
Bangkok 1664.09 1671.75 -0.46
Manila 7985.08 7962.13 0.29
Jakarta 6510.97 6525.358 -0.22
Kuala Lumpur 1717.7 1724.58 -0.40
Ho Chi Minh 991.47 994.43 -0.30
Change on year
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3264.96 3068.76 6.39
Bangkok 1664.09 1563.88 6.41
Manila 7985.08 7466.02 6.95
Jakarta 6510.97 6194.498 5.11
Kuala Lumpur 1717.7 1690.58 1.60
Ho Chi Minh 991.47 892.54 11.08
(Reporting by Shriya Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by
Rashmi Aich)