SE Asia Stocks-Most rise; Philippines jumps more than 2 pct

* Philippines up for 6th session in 7

* All eyes on U.S. Fed

By Syed Saif Hussain Naqvi

Aug 1 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian shares ended higher

on Wednesday, with the Philippines rising over 2 percent, while

investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve's statement for cues

on the pace of future rate hikes after its policy meeting

concludes later in the day.

However, resurfacing U.S.-Sino trade tensions after United

States President Donald Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on

$200 billion of imported Chinese goods after initially setting

them at 10 percent, weighed on sentiment.

"I think the FOMC will keep to their policy of tightening in

2018. The outlook for 2019 is more uncertain and we will only

have more visibility in subsequent meetings when the FOMC

updates their economic projections," said Liu Jinshu, director

of research at NRA Capital in Singapore.

Philippine shares were the top gainers among

Southeast Asian shares, ending 2.2 percent higher, their biggest

gain in over 2 months.

Industrials and financials accounted for majority of the

gains, while all other sectors ended in the positive territory.

SM Investments Corp gained 4.2 percent while BDO

Unibank ended 3.6 percent higher.

Indonesian shares ended 1.6 percent higher,

bolstered by financials and industrial stocks, with the index

posting its eighth gain in nine sessions.

Fitch Ratings on Tuesday upgraded the Viability Rating of

Indonesia's state-owned bank PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero)

Tbk and also reaffirmed the National Ratings on PT

Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk.

Financials surged, with PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero)

Tbk rising 5.7 percent and PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia

(Persero) Tbk gaining 3.9 percent.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's July inflation rate edged up to 3.18

percent against expectations of a 3.24 percent rise.

Thai shares gained 1.2 percent, their seventh rise

in nine sessions. Data showed the country's headline consumer

price index rose in July.

Thailand's annual headline CPI rose 1.46 percent in July, as

expected in a Reuters poll, after a 1.38 percent jump in June.

Singapore shares gained 0.3 percent on the back of

financials with DBS Group Holdings, Oversea-Chinese

Banking Corp and United Overseas Bank all

gaining.

"The banks are going to start reporting their results with

DBS reporting tomorrow morning while UOB will report on Friday

morning. If we look at their recent share price performance,

they have recovered somewhat from the early July lows and hence,

we could be seeing some buying ahead of their results," added

Jinshu

Vietnam shares ended lower by 0.4 percent, with

financials and real estate stocks pulling the benchmark down

For Asian Companies click;

SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change on the

day

Market Current Previous Pct Move

close

Singapore 3328.95 3319.85 0.27

Bangkok 1722.01 1701.79 1.19

Manila 7838.22 7672 2.17

Jakarta 6033.419 5936.443 1.63

Kuala Lumpur 1788.31 1784.25 0.23

Ho Chi Minh 952.77 956.39 -0.38

Change on year

Market Current End 2017 Pct Move

Singapore 3328.95 3402.92 -2.17

Bangkok 1722.01 1753.71 -1.81

Manila 7838.22 8,558.42 -8.42

Jakarta 6033.419 6355.654 -5.07

Kuala Lumpur 1788.31 1796.81 -0.47

Ho Chi Minh 952.77 984.24 -3.20

(Reporting by Syed Saif Hussain Naqvi in Bengaluru; Editing by

Vyas Mohan)