SE Asia Stocks-Rise on deadline extension hopes; Philippines leads gains

* High-level Sino-U.S. follow-up sessions later in the week * Singapore rises to over six-month high * Philippines gains over 1 percent By Shreya Mariam Job Feb 20 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Wednesday, with Philippines leading the gains, as hopes for an extension to the March 1 deadline for a deal between Washington and Beijing were boosted by U.S. President's comments amid a fresh bout of talks. U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that he was open to pushing off the trade deal deadline to complete negotiations. U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of imports from China, Southeast Asia's largest trading partner, are currently scheduled to rise to 25 percent from 10 percent if no trade deal is reached by March 1. Leading the gains in the regional market, Philippine stocks rebounded from the previous session's losses to jump 1.2 percent on the back of industrial stocks. SM Prime Holdings Inc gained as much as 2.5 percent, while Universal Robina Corp firmed up to 5.3 percent. "We expect the market to recover today as we think the selling on Ayala Land, SM Prime Holdings and BDO Unibank yesterday was overdone. Further, recent news flows, particularly earnings results, have been generally positive," RCBC securities said in a note. Meanwhile, deputy governor of the Philippine central bank Diwa Guinigundo said on Tuesday it will act swiftly if it judges there is not enough liquidity in the financial system to maintain economic momentum, with economists expecting some form of monetary easing. Malaysian shares extended gains into a third straight session, helped by telecom and material stocks. Maxis Bhd snapped a three-day losing spree to advance as much as 3.1 percent. Malaysia's Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd rose up to 3.5 percent after Spanish oil and gas firm Repsol said the company with its partners - Petronas and MOECO - discovered gas resources estimated at at least 2 trillion cubic feet, the largest gas discovery in Indonesia in the past 18 years. Singapore stocks climbed to their highest in more than six months, boosted by utilities and telecom stocks. Shares of Capitaland Ltd rose as much as 1.5 percent after reporting a 71.2 percent surge in fourth-quarter profit and declaring a dividend of 12 cents per share. Indonesian shares rose 0.2 percent, driven mostly by financial stocks, while the Vietnam index climbed 0.5 percent, helped by gains in the real estate sector. The Thai index resumed trade after a holiday to edge marginally higher, lifted by industrials and materials. For Asian Companies click; SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS As At 0357 GMT Change on the day Market Current Previous close Pct Move Singapore 3269.89 3259.8 0.31 Bangkok 1637.59 1635.71 0.11 Manila 7926.41 7833.75 1.18 Jakarta 6509.85 6494.667 0.23 Kuala Lumpur 1720.84 1706.56 0.84 Ho Chi Minh 969 964.35 0.48 Change so far in 2019 Market Current End 2018 Pct Move Singapore 3269.89 3068.76 6.55 Bangkok 1637.59 1563.88 4.71 Manila 7926.41 7,466.02 6.17 Jakarta 6509.85 6,194.50 5.09 Kuala Lumpur 1720.84 1690.58 1.79 Ho Chi Minh 969 892.54 8.57 (Reporting by Shreya Mariam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)