SE Asia Stocks-Upbeat; S'pore hits fresh 2-yr high

By Karthika Suresh Namboothiri

Nov 9 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets were largely

buoyant on Thursday, with Singapore inching higher to a fresh

two-year high and Vietnam set to extend its gaining run to the

fifth session, scaling a 10-year peak.

Record-setting gains overnight on Wall Street brought cheer

to broader Asia, lifting MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares

outside Japan to a fresh 10-year high.

Meanwhile, data showing surprisingly strong producer prices

in China last month and a pickup in consumer inflation

underscored the resilience of the world's second-largest

economy, which is one of the biggest trade partners of Southeast

Asian nations.

Investors are waiting for policy announcement from the

central banks of Malaysia and the Philippines on Thursday, a day

after the Thai central bank's rate decision.

"As expected, the Bank of Thailand left the policy unchanged

yesterday and central banks in Malaysia and the Philippines are

expected to follow the same course today. We expect BNM (Bank

Negara Malaysia) and BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) to be

among the first Asian central banks to tighten next year," ING

analysts wrote in a note.

Analysts polled by Reuters also said they expected the

Philippine and Malaysian central banks to stand pat on interest

rates.

Philippine shares rose 0.3 percent, buoyed by the

consumer and real estate sectors, with conglomerates JG Summit

Holdings and SM Prime Holdings up 2.9 percent

and 1.7 percent, respectively.

Malaysia edged 0.2 percent higher, with Genting

Berhad up 2.4 percent. The country's industrial output

in September grew 4.7 percent from a year earlier, data showed,

missing the 6.1 percent annual rise forecast in a Reuters poll.

Singapore stocks edged up marginally as lender DBS

Group Holdings Ltd gained 1.6 percent.

Meanwhile, Vietnam climbed 0.5 percent, after gaining

more than 1 percent in the previous session.

The country posted a trade surplus of $2.2 billion in

October, much higher than the government's forecast of $900

million, the country's customs department said on

Wednesday.

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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS: CHANGE AT 0400 GMT

Change on the

day

Market Current Previous Pct Move

close

Singapore 3423.06 3421.25 0.05

Bangkok 1715.76 1714.65 0.06

Manila 8534.48 8508.49 0.31

Jakarta 6052.23 6049.384 0.05

Kuala Lumpur 1747.75 1744.2 0.20

Ho Chi Minh 862.2 859.7 0.29

Change on year

Market Current End prev yr Pct Move

Singapore 3423.06 2880.76 18.82

Bangkok 1715.76 1542.94 11.20

Manila 8534.48 6840.64 24.76

Jakarta 6052.23 5296.711 14.26

Kuala Lumpur 1747.75 1641.73 6.46

Ho Chi Minh 862.2 664.87 29.68

(Reporting by Karthika Namboothiri in Bengaluru; Editing by

Amrutha Gayathri)