SE Asia Stocks-Most gain; Philippines, Thailand hit fresh records

By Aditya Soni

Jan 5 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose on

Friday as Asian equities drew heart from record-setting gains on

Wall Street overnight, with the Philippines and Thailand

climbing to fresh all-time highs.

U.S. stocks extended their strong start to the new year on

Thursday, with the Dow industrials breaking above the 25,000

level for the first time and other major indexes hitting record

closing highs again, propelled by strong global economic data.

Asian shares inched closer to their record 2007 peak on

Friday as U.S. jobs data pointed to firm economic growth. MSCI's

broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

rose 0.2 percent in early trade.

The gains on Wall Street have had a positive impact as most

global asset managers are willing to take on risk, especially in

the emerging markets, said Fio Dejesus, equity research analyst

at RCBC Securities.

Philippine shares rose more than 1 percent, with

industrials accounting for half of the gains.

SM Investments Corp scaled an all-time peak, while

JG Summit Holdings Inc climbed to its highest since

Nov. 3.

The Philippines' annual inflation rate held steady in

December, bringing the average for 2017 to 3.2 percent, well

within the central bank's target rate, the statistics agency

said on Friday.

Thai shares ticked up 0.3 percent, on track to

register four consecutive winning sessions, with utilities and

financials accumulating most of the gains.

Mobile network operator Advanced Info Service led

the charge, while Bangkok Bank climbed to a near

three-and-a-half-year high.

Malaysian shares rose 0.7 percent, with

telecommunication services and industrials leading the gainers

Axiata Group surging 5 percent to a near

one-and-a-half-year high, while Sime Darby rose 9

percent.

Malaysia's November exports rose 14.4 percent from a year

earlier, slower than the previous month, on lower shipments of

commodities, but above the 13.9 percent rise forecast by a

Reuters poll, government data showed on Friday.

Indonesian shares gained slightly, while Singapore

was largely steady.

Vietnam shares fell 0.3 percent, on track to snap

nine sessions of consecutive gains.

For Asian Companies click;

SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change as of 0402

GMT

Market Current Previous close Pct Move

Singapore 3501 3501.16 0.00

Bangkok 1796.69 1791.02 0.32

Manila 8830.76 8739.83 1.04

Jakarta 6295.452 6292.321 0.05

Kuala Lumpur 1815.66 1803.45 0.68

Ho Chi Minh 1016.97 1019.75 -0.27

Change on year

Market Current End prev yr Pct Move

Singapore 3501 3402.92 2.88

Bangkok 1796.69 1753.71 2.45

Manila 8830.76 8,558.42 3.18

Jakarta 6295.452 6,355.65 -0.95

Kuala Lumpur 1815.66 1796.81 1.05

Ho Chi Minh 1016.97 984.24 3.33

(Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha

Gayathri)