SE Asia Stocks-Recover; Indonesia up about 1 pct

* MAS tightens monetary policy for 2nd time this year

* Malaysia rises after 7 straight sessions of falls

By Niyati Shetty

Oct 12 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets edged

higher on Friday, recovering from the previous session's sharp

falls after a weaker-than-expected rise in U.S. inflation for

September partly tempered expectations of more aggressive

Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.

The U.S. Consumer Price Index rose 0.1 percent last month

after climbing 0.2 percent in August. Excluding the volatile

food and energy components, the CPI edged up 0.1 percent for the

second straight month, after gaining 0.2 percent in May, June

and July.

Asian shares appeared tentative, holding steady after a

nine-session losing streak, but sentiment was frail after Wall

Street shares crumbled and expectations of market volatility

shot up to an eight-month high.

Indonesian shares gained up to 1.2 percent, boosted

by financials and telecoms. Bank Central Asia rose 2.5

percent, while Telekomunikasi Indonesia climbed 2.2

percent.

This is primarily driven by U.S. inflation data as investors

were dying for any kind of relief, said Taye Shim, head of

research at Mirae Asset Sekuritas.

Since Indonesia is a domestic driven economy, it reinforced

investor confidence a little bit more, he added.

"However, it is a very fragile recovery and investors should

not be overly excited... The market itself will remain volatile

until the end of the year," he said.

Worries about the economic impact of Sino-U.S. trade spat, a

spike in U.S. bond yields this week and caution ahead of the

earnings season are all cited as potential reasons behind

Thursday's selloff.

Malaysian stocks rose as much as 0.8 percent,

posting their sharpest intraday gain in a month and heading for

their first session of gain in eight.

Tenaga Nasional climbed 2.7 percent, while Malayan

Banking gained 1.9 percent.

Philippine shares rose up to 0.8 percent, helped by

consumer staples. Universal Robina Corp gained 3.9

percent, while conglomerate Ayala Corp gained 1.4

percent.

Singapore shares climbed over half a percent after

six straight sessions of declines.

Meanwhile, the Monetary Authority of Singapore tightened its

monetary policy for the second time this year, in line with

expectations, saying the city-state's economy is likely to

expand steadily barring a setback to global growth from trade

frictions between the United States and China.

Keppel Corp gained 1.3 percent, while Jardine

Matheson rose 1.2 percent.

For Asian Companies click;

SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS AS AT 0412 GMT

Market Current Previous close Pct Move

Singapore 3053.08 3047.39 0.19

Bangkok 1693.04 1682.89 0.60

Manila 6938.54 6884.38 0.79

Jakarta 5753.645 5702.822 0.89

Kuala Lumpur 1722.47 1708.49 0.82

Ho Chi Minh 956.43 945.89 1.11

Change on year

Market Current End 2017 Pct Move

Singapore 3053.08 3402.92 -10.28

Bangkok 1693.04 1753.71 -3.46

Manila 6938.54 8558.42 -18.93

Jakarta 5753.645 6355.654 -9.47

Kuala Lumpur 1722.47 1796.81 -4.14

Ho Chi Minh 956.43 984.24 -2.83

(Reporting by Niyati Shetty in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu

Sahu)