SE Asia Stocks -Most up; Thai index near key 1,500 after consumer confidence data

BANGKOK, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock

markets rose on Wednesday amid selective buying in shares of

airlines, seen as beneficiaries of lower oil prices, while

positive consumer confidence data for December bolstered broader

sentiment on the Thai bourse.

Low inflation, reduced gasoline prices and government

payments to rice farmers sent Thai consumer confidence to an

18-month high in December, with government spending and

investment set to lift it further, a university survey showed.

The Thai stock index rose 1 percent, recovering some

of its 12.9 percent loss over the past four sessions. Banking

and consumer stocks such as Kasikornbank and CP All

advanced and were among those actively traded.

Strategists at broker Kasikorn Securities expect the SET to

gain support from positive consumer confidence data and

strength in other stock markets in the region.

"Market will continue to see a play around a low oil price

theme and bargain hunting in related beneficiaries," they wrote

in a report to clients.

Shares of national carrier Thai Airways International

climbed 2.1 percent, heading for their biggest single

day rise since Dec. 16, as Brent crude oil prices fell below $50

a barrel for the first time since May 2009 on Wednesday.

Shares of Singapore Airlines jumped 2.2 percent,

the second-best performing stock on the benchmark Straits Times

Index which rose 0.7 percent.

In Manila, the index gained 0.4 percent. Stock

exchange data showed foreign buying lifted property shares such

as Megaworld Corp, outweighing declines in energy

shares including First Philippine Holdings Corp.

Vietnam's benchmark VN Index rose 0.4 percent as some

blue chips gained, led by dairy product maker Vinamilk.

Bucking the trend, Malaysia's index was down 0.4

percent, heading for a sixth straight fall, led down by banking

stocks such as Maybank and Public Bank.

Malaysian shares trimmed some of their earlier losses after

data showed the country's exports in November rose unexpectedly,

dodging the impact from tumbling world oil prices and providing

a brief respite for the sliding ringgit.

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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change at 0854 GMT

Market Current Prev Close Pct Move

Singapore 3305.75 3281.95 +0.73

Kuala Lumpur 1709.18 1716.58 -0.43

Bangkok 1492.73 1477.58 +1.03

Jakarta 5203.82 5169.06 +0.67

Manila 7309.70 7277.74 +0.44

Ho Chi Minh 552.05 549.66 +0.43

(Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)