SE Asia Stocks-Philippine outperforms amid inflows

BANGKOK, April 2 (Reuters) - Philippine shares scaled their

five-month peaks on Wednesday after gains in large caps and

foreign fund inflows while shares in political crisis-hit

Thailand eked out further gains to a near 1,400 mark helped by

selective buying in banking stocks.

The Philippine main index closed up 1.1 percent at

6,587.72, the highest since Oct. 30. Shares of Megaworld Corp

, Ayala Corp and Univeral Robina Corp

were top three percentage gainers on the benchmark.

The exchange posted net inflows for a sixth consecutive

session, with foreign investors buying a net 1.4 billion pesos

($31.26 million).

The rally came ahead of March inflation data due out on

Friday, which analysts said the annual inflation may have

quickened slightly in the month and the central bank is expected

to take further policy tightening measures, perhaps as early as

next month.

Thai index rose 0.7 percent, taking its gain in four

sessions since March 28 to 3.0 percent. Siam Commercial Bank

and Kasikornbank were among the

outperformers in part due to hopes about their quarterly

earnings results.

Brokers said technical indicators were supportive to the

market but political risks remained, denting the growth prospect

on the domestic economy and corporate earnings.

In Kuala Lumpur, investors bought battered plantation stocks

such as PPB Group as palm oil futures rebounded from

recent falls.

Stocks in Indonesia pared midsession gains while

Singapore fell for the first time in six sessions amid

selling in rallying telecoms firms Singapore Telecommunications

and Telkom Indonesia.

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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change on day

Market Current Prev Close Pct Move

TR SE Asia Index* 413.65 412.46 +0.29

Singapore 3192.78 3198.52 -0.18

Kuala Lumpur 1852.00 1847.76 +0.23

Bangkok 1396.62 1387.48 +0.66

Jakarta 4870.21 4873.93 -0.08

Manila 6587.72 6514.72 +1.12

Ho Chi Minh 581.67 583.85 -0.37

Change on year

Market Current End 2013 Pct Move

TR SE Asia Index* 413.65 388.37 +6.51

Singapore 3192.78 3167.43 +0.80

Kuala Lumpur 1852.00 1866.96 +0.80

Bangkok 1396.62 1298.71 +7.54

Jakarta 4870.21 4274.18 +13.94

Manila 6587.72 5889.83 +11.85

Ho Chi Minh 581.67 504.63 +15.27

* The Thomson Reuters South East Asia Index is a

highly representative indicator of stocks listed in Indonesia,

Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

($1 = 44.7900 Philippine Pesos)

(Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)