By Ambar Warrick
July 18 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets were
subdued on Tuesday, tracking tepid Asian shares and Wall Street
overnight as the passage of a U.S. healthcare bill grew
doubtful, raising concerns over the rest of President Donald
Trump's ambitious economic agenda.
Asian shares stepped back from more than two-year highs on
Tuesday and the dollar extended losses, as two Republican
senators opposed legislation to dismantle and replace the
Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, leaving it
without enough votes to pass.
Overnight in the United States, stocks closed little changed
in low volume as gains in utilities and consumer shares offset
declines in healthcare, with the S&P health sector
falling 0.3 percent.
In Southeast Asia, Philippine shares were up
marginally.
"Financials and real estate stocks are driving the market
today," said Jeffrey Kucero, equity analyst at RCBC Securities.
"However, the pressure from PLDT is keeping the market subdued."
Property developer SM Prime Holdings Inc rose as
much as 1.1 percent, while consumer bank GT Capital Holdings
hit a more than one-month high.
PLDT fell as much as 2.1 percent, its lowest in
nearly two months. It dropped 2.2 percent on the New
York Stock Exchange on Monday.
"The slide of the PLDT ADR on Wall Street last night dims
the outlook for the Philippine market today," said RCBC
Securities in a note.
Singapore was little changed, with gains in
financials and consumer staples offset by losses in
telecommunication stocks.
DBS Group hit a more than 17-year high, while
Singapore Telecommunications shed as much as 0.8
percent.
Vietnam shares were up 0.2 percent after earlier
falling to their lowest in one week.
Indonesia slipped 0.3 percent, as financials and
consumer staples pulled the index down.
Bank Rakyat Indonesia posted its biggest intraday
percentage loss in over one month, while Unilever Indonesia
fell as much as 1.6 percent.
An index of the country's 45 most liquid stocks
fell 0.5 percent.
For Asian Companies click;
SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS: Change as at 0411 GMT
Change on the day
Market Current previous Pct Move
close
Singapore 3297.26 3298.24 -0.03
Bangkok 1572.16 1574.09 -0.12
Manila 7951.71 7934.5 0.22
Jakarta 5822.234 5841.28 -0.33
Kuala Lumpur 1753.67 1755.19 -0.09
Ho Chi Minh 770.34 768.91 0.19
Change so far in 2017
Market Current End prev Pct Move
yr
Singapore 3297.26 2880.76 14.46
Bangkok 1572.16 1542.94 1.89
Manila 7951.71 6840.64 16.24
Jakarta 5822.234 5296.711 9.92
Kuala Lumpur 1753.67 1641.73 6.82
Ho Chi Minh 770.34 664.87 15.86
(Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Biju
Dwarakanath)