SE Asia Stocks-S'pore ends at fresh 2-yr peak; Vietnam up over 1 percent

By Karthika Suresh Namboothiri

Nov 8 (Reuters) - Singapore shares ended at a new two-year

peak on Wednesday while Vietnam clocked a near-decade closing

high, but most other markets in Southeast Asia were subdued in

line with regional indexes.

October trade data from China that showed the world's

second-largest economy is starting to cool after a strong first

half also hurt sentiment.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

was down 0.04 percent after hitting a decade

high earlier in the day.

Regional markets, however, got some momentary relief after

data showed October imports from China rose, beating forecasts,

in a sign that domestic demand remained robust.

Singapore inched 0.2 percent higher, closing at an

over two-year high.

Singapore Airlines Limited was among top gainers,

up 4.2 percent, a day after the carrier posted second-quarter

net profits that nearly tripled.

Lender DBS Group gained 1.2 percent while Jardine

Matheson ended 1.7 percent higher.

Vietnam shares ended 1.1 percent higher, striking yet

another near-decade closing high. Real estate developer Vingroup

Joint Stock Company, up 5.7 percent, was the top index

mover.

The country's customs department said after market close,

that Vietnam posted a trade surplus of $2.2 billion in October,

much higher than the government's forecast of $900 million.

Thailand shares ended 0.1 percent higher, with

stocks in utilities and financial sector leading the gains.

The country's central bank left its benchmark interest rate

unchanged at 1.50 percent. Bank of Thailand said in a statement

the Thai economy was expected to grow at a faster pace than its

previous assessment, driven by growth in exports and improvement

in domestic demand.

Indonesian stocks slumped 0.2 percent, a day after

marking a record closing high, owing to losses in energy and

telecommunication stocks.

Indonesia's retail sales rose 1.8 percent in September from

a year earlier, a central bank survey showed on Wednesday. This

was slower than August's 2.2 percent, on weak sales of both food

and non-food items.

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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS: CHANGE ON DAY

Market Current Previous Close Pct Move

Singapore 3421.25 3413.1 0.24

Bangkok 1714.65 1712.75 0.11

Manila 8508.49 8521.81 -0.16

Jakarta 6049.384 6060.453 -0.18

Kuala Lumpur 1744.2 1750.94 -0.38

Ho Chi Minh 859.7 850.33 1.10

Change so far

this year

Market Current End 2016 Pct Move

Singapore 3421.25 2880.76 18.76

Bangkok 1714.65 1542.94 11.13

Manila 8508.49 6840.64 24.4

Jakarta 6049.384 5296.711 14.21

Kuala Lumpur 1744.2 1641.73 6.24

Ho Chi Minh 859.7 664.87 29.3

(Reporting by Karthika Namboothiri in Bengaluru; Editing by

Vyas Mohan)