SE Asia Stocks-Singapore, Malaysia fall to over two-week lows

BANGKOK, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets

mostly fell on Tuesday, with Singapore and Malaysia extending

losses to more than two-week lows as investors cut holdings in

risky assets amid weak global sentiment and oil company shares

retreated in line with softening oil prices.

Singapore's index was down 1.4 percent after a

slide on Monday, to 3,281.08, while Malaysia's benchmark

eased 1 percent, heading for its fifth straight loss, both

hovering around the lowest level since Dec. 19.

Shares of Keppel Corporation and Sembcorp Marine

each lost about 4 percent on the Singapore bourse. In

Kuala Lumpur, shares of UMW Holdings and Petronas

Chemicals Group led among losers.

Brokers forecast a further decline in the near term.

Affin Hwang Capital in Kuala Lumpur said in a report it

expected the bearish market sentiment to drag stock prices lower

on the Bursa Malaysia index.

KGI Securities in Bangkok said energy shares would face

selling pressure with oil extending losses on Tuesday to touch

fresh 5-1/2-year lows, and expect investors to track the

European Central Bank meeting later in the month for cues.

"Global market sentiment continued to worsen due to

uncertainty about Greece's political outlook, which may result

in the country exiting the euro zone," it said in a report.

"In our view, the next major event that may revive market

sentiment will be the ECB meeting on January 22 when the central

bank may announce a full QE program," it said.

The Thai SET index traded down 0.9 percent, with top

energy shares such as PTT and PTT Exploration and

Production sliding further from the previous session. Jakarta's

composite index was down almost 1 percent.

Stocks in the Philippines recovered from earlier

losses and closed in positive territory, with shares of Alliance

Global among outperformers due to buying by foreign

investors, stock exchange data showed.

Vietnam gained almost 1 percent as buying in banking

and consumer goods equities reversed the market position after

some early offloads.

Asian shares slumped on Tuesday partly due

to increasing speculation that Greece might be kicked out of the

euro zone if a left-wing party that has vowed to end austerity

measures and erase a big portion of its debt wins in the Jan. 25

elections, as widely expected.

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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change at 0852 GMT

Market Current Prev Close Pct Move

Singapore 3281.08 3328.28 -1.42

Kuala Lumpur 1716.58 1736.62 -1.15

Bangkok 1469.70 1483.25 -0.91

Jakarta 5180.46 5219.99 -0.76

Manila 7277.74 7276.63 +0.02

Ho Chi Minh 549.66 544.45 +0.96

(Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)