SE Asia Stocks-Thai shares slip; others up ahead of ECB review

BANGKOK, April 3 (Reuters) - Thai shares slipped on Thursday

as a fall in consumer confidence and concerns over a slowdown in

the Thai economy hit banking and consumer shares, while most

other share markets eked out gains ahead of the European Central

Bank's policy decision.

Stocks in Thai benchmark SET index ended down 0.4

percent, trimming some of the gains over the past four sessions

and pulling it off a more than four-month high hit on Wednesday.

Shares of Advanced Info Service and Siam

Commercial Bank were among the biggest losers on top 50

large caps.

Foreign inflows have lifted laggard big caps and banking

shares but the consumer confidence which hit the lowest in

nearly 12.5 years in March due to prolonged political unrest

kept investors on the defensive.

"Domestic political concerns may return to the fore over

this weekend," said broker Phillip Securities as supporters of

the government set April 5 for mass gatherings.

Thai government said on Thursday it fears a violent backlash

if Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is removed from power.

Singapore outperformed, with the benchmark Straits Times

Index gaining 0.9 percent as shares of Noble Group

extended gains after a stake sale of its agriculture

division to COFCO.

Shares of the Philippines ended four sessions of

gains amid domestic-led selling. Foreign investors bought shares

for a seventh straight session, adding a net 1.1 billion peso

($24.5 million), data showed.

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

and MSCI's world shares both

were nearly flat, with focus on the ECB's policy meeting.

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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change on day

Market Current Prev Close Pct Move

TR SE Asia Index* 414.11 413.65 +0.11

Singapore 3220.06 3192.78 +0.85

Kuala Lumpur 1855.63 1852.00 +0.20

Bangkok 1391.22 1396.62 -0.39

Jakarta 4891.32 4870.21 +0.43

Manila 6587.08 6587.72 -0.01

Ho Chi Minh 589.44 581.67 +1.34

Change on year

Market Current End 2013 Pct Move

TR SE Asia Index* 414.11 388.37 +6.63

Singapore 3220.06 3167.43 +1.66

Kuala Lumpur 1855.63 1866.96 -0.61

Bangkok 1391.22 1298.71 +7.12

Jakarta 4891.32 4274.18 +14.44

Manila 6587.08 5889.83 +11.84

Ho Chi Minh 589.44 504.63 +16.81

* The Thomson Reuters South East Asia Index is a

highly representative indicator of stocks listed in Indonesia,

Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

($1 = 44.8800 Philippine Pesos)

(Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap; Editing by Anand Basu)