SE Asia Stocks-Philippines at 5-mth high; Malaysia plantation stocks rebound

BANGKOK, April 2 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stocks

rose on Wednesday as strength in global markets boosted regional

large-caps, pushing the Philippine index to a five-month high

while palm plantation stocks rebounded in Malaysia on rising

palm oil prices.

The Philippine index rose 1.2 percent to its highest

since Oct. 31. Shares of Ayala Land, the most actively

traded, jumped 3.3 percent to its highest since July.

The Philippine stock market had rallied this week, thanks to

foreign fund inflows into the region.

In Kuala Lumpur, the index edged up 0.2 percent, the

first in three sessions. Plantation stocks, including PPB Group

and Kuala Lumpur Kepong, recouped some of

their recent losses after Malaysian palm oil futures rose for

the first time this week.

In Bangkok, selective buying in banking shares such

as Kasikornbank and Bangkok Bank lifted the

key SET index by 0.4 percent at midday.

"With U.S. and Europe closing strongly overnight and

regional markets trading higher this morning, bias looks overly

positive today," strategists at broker Krungsri Securities wrote

in a report.

Investors could selectively buy shares, with the index

holding well above 1,380, technically pointing to upward

momentum of the broader market, they said.

Jakarta's Composite Index was nearly flat as profit

taking hit shares of Telkom Indonesia. Shares of Bank

Mandiri extended gains amid optimism over an improving

economic outlook.

In Singapore, Noble Group Ltd rose after China's

largest grain trader COFCO Corp agreed to buy a stake in its

agribusiness.

Vietnam's benchmark VN Index fell as buying by

foreign investors failed to curb the impact of selling.

U.S. stocks rose for a third straight session on Tuesday

after positive data on factory activity while Asian share

markets added to their recent rally on Wednesday as investors

chose to accentuate the positive in a mixed bag of global

economic data.

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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change at 0631 GMT

Market Current Prev Close Pct Move

TR SE Asia Index* 414.04 412.46 +0.38

Singapore 3198.78 3198.52 +0.01

Kuala Lumpur 1852.06 1847.76 +0.23

Bangkok 1393.62 1387.48 +0.44

Jakarta 4879.30 4873.93 +0.11

Manila 6589.47 6514.72 +1.15

Ho Chi Minh 578.49 583.85 -0.92

* The Thomson Reuters South East Asia Index is a

highly representative indicator of stocks listed in Indonesia,

Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

(Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap; Editing by Sunil Nair)