* Philippines poised for fifth straight day of losses
* Singapore dips ahead of inflation data
* Vietnam sole gainer in the region
By Shriya Ramakrishnan
Sept 23 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian shares fell on
Monday, with Singapore taking the biggest hit, as investors
remained wary on U.S.-China trade talk progress after mixed
signals from ongoing negotiations.
Both the United States and China described their talks as
"productive" and "constructive", with the U.S. Trade
Representative's office adding that high-level negotiations will
take place in October, as previously planned. However, sentiment was dampened after Chinese officials
unexpectedly cancelled a visit to U.S. farm states and President
Donald Trump reiterated that he favoured a complete trade deal
with China.
"A China-U.S. trade deal in October is still considered
possible but improbable. There are no concrete signs that the
U.S. is ready for an interim trade deal that would lead to a
tariff truce," according to a DBS Bank note.
Leading declines in the region, Singapore's benchmark index
.STI dipped 0.4%, ahead of key inflation data release.
Consumer and financial stocks dragged the index, with shares
of heavyweights DBS Group Holdings Ltd DBSM.SI and Capitaland
Ltd CATL.SI falling between 0.3% and 0.9%.
A Reuters poll expects the city-state's core inflation
figures for August to remain unchanged from July, when inflation
eased to its slowest pace in more than three years, prompting
authorities to downgrade their full-year forecast amid firming
bets for monetary policy easing. Philippine's index .PSI dropped 0.4% and were on track to
extend losses for a fifth straight session, dragged by
industrial and utility stocks.
Power generation firm Aboitiz Power Corp AP.PS and GT
Capital Holdings Inc GTCAP.PS shed as much as 2.4% each.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is set to review its policy
later this week. Governor Benjamin Diokno has flagged a further
quarter-point interest rate reduction before the end of 2019 to
shore up economic growth and said inflation forecast for
September will guide its policy decision.
Thai stocks .SETI shed about 0.4%, touching their lowest
level in nearly four weeks, dragged by losses in the telecom and
energy sector.
Oil and gas firm PTT PCL PTT.BK and mobile operator
Advanced Info Service Pcl ADVANC.BK fell 0.6% and 1.8%,
respectively.
Bucking the trend, Vietnam's benchmark index .VNI , which
has outperformed most of its peers by a vast margin so far this
year, gained 0.2%, lifted by consumer and energy stocks.
For Asian Companies click;
SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS as on 0355 GMT
STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3147.28 3159.68 -0.39
Bangkok 1630.18 1636.2 -0.37
Manila 7842.51 7871.11 -0.36
Jakarta 6219.616 6231.473 -0.19
Kuala Lumpur 1592.23 1597.41 -0.32
Ho Chi Minh 992 990.36 0.17
Change so far in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3147.28 3068.76 2.56
Bangkok 1630.18 1563.88 4.24
Manila 7842.51 7,466.02 5.04
Jakarta 6219.616 6,194.50 0.41
Kuala Lumpur 1592.23 1690.58 -5.82
Ho Chi Minh 992 892.54 11.14