SE Asia Stocks-Singapore firms; telecoms weigh on Philippine index (Dec 11)

(Corrects Dec. 11 story to remove reference to Thailand in

table as the market was closed for a holiday)

By Chris Thomas

Dec 11 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets edged

higher on Monday, with Singapore building on steep gains in the

previous session, while the Philippines slipped as competition

concerns weighed on telecom shares.

Asian stocks firmed, with MSCI's broadest index of

Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.2

percent, hovering above a recent two-month low amid optimism

about global growth after the strong U.S payrolls data on

Friday.

"Asian currencies have been trading higher compared with the

U.S. dollar for the past several weeks, so there's anticipation

that Asian equities will be preferred over other markets,

particularly those in the West," said Manny Cruz, an analyst

with Asiasec Equities Inc in Manila.

Singapore shares rose as much as 0.7 percent, on

course to extend Friday's 1.1 percent gain.

Shares of United Overseas Bank Ltd rose as much as

2.6 percent, their biggest intraday spike in over seven months.

The city-state's top taxi operator ComfortDelGro Corp

was the best performer on the index, climbing as much

as 4.7 percent after it said on Friday it would buy a 51 percent

stake in a unit of Uber .

Meanwhile, the Philippine index fell as much as 0.3

percent, with a drop in telecom stocks overshadowing a Fitch

Ratings upgrade to the country's credit rating.

Fitch upgraded Philippines' credit rating to 'BBB' from

'BBB-', citing the nation's "strong and consistent"

macroeconomic performance and sound policies supporting high and

sustainable growth rates.

Telecom stocks weighed on the index, with top operators PLDT

Inc and Globe Telecom Inc falling as much as 4

percent and 1.9 percent, respectively, after the government

indicated a Chinese company could enter the telecom market.

Officials of the Philippine government said on Sunday that

China Telecom Corp could become the nation's third

telecoms player, as the government looks to stir up competition

in an effort to boost notoriously poor services.

Indonesian shares rose as much as 0.4 percent to

their highest in over a week, ahead of October's retail sales

data due later in the day.

Conglomerate Astra International Tbk was the

biggest boost to the index, up as much as 1.5 percent.

Shares on the Vietnam index dropped as much as 1.5

percent to their lowest in over two weeks, as the financial and

industrial sectors fell.

For Asian Companies click;

SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS: Change at 0346 GMT

Change on day

Market Current Previous close Pct Move

Singapore 3445.38 3424.64 0.61

Manila 8292.31 8304.7 -0.15

Jakarta 6033.82 6030.958 0.05

Kuala Lumpur 1721.36 1721.25 0.01

Ho Chi Minh 931.82 940.16 -0.89

Change on year

Market Current End 2016 Pct Move

Singapore 3445.38 2880.76 19.6

Manila 8292.31 6840.64 21.22

Jakarta 6033.82 5296.711 13.92

Kuala Lumpur 1721.36 1641.73 4.85

Ho Chi Minh 931.82 664.87 40.15

(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha

Gayathri)