Credit: REUTERS/BEAWIHARTAMay 27 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets closed higher on Monday with Indonesia rising to a two-week high amid easing political worries, but investors remained attentive to developments in the U.S.-China tariff war.
With no leads from Wall Street due to a public holiday, trading volumes across the six markets were below their 30-day averages as investors awaited any new trade-related commentary.
U.S. President Donald Trump is on a four-day trip to Japan, where he called on his Japanese counterpart to even out a trade imbalance.
"With Trump in the far east, dealers await cues on trade war," ING wrote in a note.
Indonesian shares .JKSE closed 0.7% higher, extending gains into a third session. Bank Central Asia TBK PT BBCA.JK was the biggest boost with a gain of 1.3%.
After clashes broke out in the capital city of Jakarta last week following protests against the victory of President Joko Widodo in last month's election, authorities over the week removed temporary social media restrictions.
Thai shares .SETI advanced 0.7% as a pro-army party hopes to seal a deal on Monday to end opposition hopes of keeping the military out of politics.
Energy stocks accounted for most of the gains with heavyweight PTT Pcl PTT.BK rising 1.1%.
Philippine shares .PSI closed 0.3% lower, dragged by telecom heavyweight PLDT Inc TEL.PS, which fell 5%.
Singapore shares .STI closed flat after declining 0.4% in intraday trade, but still hovered near two-month lows.
The city-state remained on track for its worst monthly drop since October last year.
Falls in Hutchison Port Holdings Trust HPHT.SI were partly offset by gains in Jardine Strategic Holdings JSH.SI.
Malaysian shares .KLSE closed 0.2% higher, while Vietnam stocks .VNI rose 0.5%.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market
Current
Previous close
Pct Move
Singapore
3170.77
3169.89
0.03
Bangkok
1624.84
1614.12
0.66
Manila
7725.01
7747.09
-0.29
Jakarta
6098.974
6057.353
0.69
Kuala Lumpur
1601.35
1598.32
0.19
Ho Chi Minh
975.14
970.03
0.53
Change so far in 2019
Market
Current
End 2018
Pct Move
Singapore
3170.77
3068.76
3.32
Bangkok
1624.84
1563.88
3.90
Manila
7725.01
7,466.02
3.47
Jakarta
6098.974
6,194.50
-1.54
Kuala Lumpur
1601.35
1690.58
-5.28
Ho Chi Minh
975.14
892.54
9.25
(Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
((NikhilKurian.Nainan@thomsonreuters.com; +91 806 749 1637; Reuters Messaging: nikhilkurian.nainan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net; Twitter: @NikhilKurianN))
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