SE Asia Stocks-Subdued as U.S. political worries hurt sentiment

* Philippines posts fourth straight weekly drop

* Indonesia drops most on day, Vietnam top gainer

By Aaron Saldanha

March 16 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets were

subdued on Friday, weighed down by reports of further chaos in

the White House and fears that U.S. tariffs could hurt the

global economy and trigger a trade war.

Broader Asian markets also dropped on concerns about the

shake-up inside U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and

as next week's Federal Reserve policy meeting comes into focus.

Trump has decided to replace his national security adviser,

H.R. McMaster, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

This follows the recent departure of two key officials,

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and top economic advisor Gary

Cohn, from the Trump administration.

Adding to the political uncertainty, U.S. Special Counsel

Robert Mueller has subpoenaed the Trump Organization for

documents, including some related to Russia, the New York Times

reported on Thursday.

"For the overall emerging markets, foreign investors have

been selling off, which has led to further weakening of the

local currencies," said Taye Shim, head of research at Mirae

Asset Sekuritas.

"If you track down some of the recent developments ever

since the resignation of Gary Cohn, there has been some market

speculation that uncertainties are likely to prolong from here,

so investors have been selling off, Indonesian equities

especially."

Indonesian shares dropped 0.3 percent on broad-based

weakness.

Telekomunikasi Indonesia was the biggest drag with

a drop of 2.8 percent.

An index of the country's 45 most liquid stocks

cut early falls to close 0.2 percent lower.

Large caps are favoured by foreigners due to their

liquidity, Shim said, adding that the weakness was a case of

"foreigners selling off what they have rather than an angle of

valuations."

Philippine shares recovered from a three-month low to

close 0.6 percent higher.

The recovery towards the end of the day was due to

bargain-hunting across the board, said Luis Limlingan, managing

director of Manila-based brokerage firm Regina Capital

Development Corp.

Philippine shares dropped 1.6 percent this week, in their

fourth straight weekly decline.

Malaysian shares edged up as gains in industrials

outweighed weakness in consumer staples. Axiata Group Bhd

rose 2.3 percent.

Singapore shares slipped 0.2 percent, largely due to

financials. Lender DBS Group Holdings Ltd dropped 1.3

percent.

Thai shares were slightly lower, while Vietnam

gained 1 percent on utilities and consumer staples.

Petrovietnam Gas Joint Stock Corp rose 5.8 percent.

For Asian Companies click;

SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS: Change on the day

Market Current Previous Pct Move

close

Singapore 3512.14 3517.73 -0.16

Bangkok 1811.76 1816.08 -0.24

Manila 8238.15 8190.01 0.59

Jakarta 6304.952 6321.904 -0.27

Kuala Lumpur 1846.39 1845.27 0.06

Ho Chi Minh 1150.19 1138.76 1.00

Change so far in 2018

Market Current End 2017 Pct Move

Singapore 3512.14 3402.92 3.21

Bangkok 1811.76 1753.71 3.31

Manila 8238.15 8558.42 -3.74

Jakarta 6304.952 6355.654 -0.80

Kuala Lumpur 1846.39 1796.81 2.76

Ho Chi Minh 1150.19 984.24 16.86

(Reporting by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru, Additional reporting

by Neil Jerome Morales in Manila; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)