SE Asia Stocks-Markets rise, even Thailand despite violence

* Thai stocks gain but political concerns linger

* S'pore posts slim gain; others mostly higher

By Viparat Jantraprap

BANGKOK, April 17 (Reuters) - Thai stocks rose almost 1
percent on Friday, pushed up by commodity stocks such as PTT
Aromatics, but domestic sectors such as banks came under
pressure because of the fragile economy and further political
violence.

Thailand .SETI, Southeast Asia's worst performer this
year, ended up 0.9 percent after a volatile session,
overshadowed by an assassination attempt on the leader of the
"yellow shirt" protest movement, the latest twist in Thailand's
political crisis.

Hopes that the U.S. economy may have bottomed spurred hopes
of a recovery in global commodities, boosting market interest
in petrochemicals and energy shares, dealers said.

PTT Aromatics PTTAR.BK jumped 10.3 percent, Thai Plastic
TPC.BK surged 9.2 percent and IRPC IRPC.BK rose 5.6
percent.

"Late buying came mainly from domestic institutions and
retail investors and market plays shifted from the
domestic-linked sector to commodities," said Pichai
Lertsupongkij, head of sales at Thanachart Securities.

"The overall market mood was still cautious due to the
political situation and foreign interest was relatively thin,"
he said.

Banking shares extended losses seen on Thursday as
political instability added to concerns about the pace of a
domestic economic recovery, with some analysts now forecasting
gross domestic product could contract 4.5-5.0 percent this
year.

Third-ranked Siam Commercial Bank SCB.BK fell 0.9 percent
and fourth-ranked Kasikornbank KBAN.BK lost 1.5 percent after
each fell more than 2 percent on Thursday.

Other major Southeast Asian stock markets ended with small
gains, with Asian stocks in general rising after
better-than-expected results from JPMorgan. [nSP402790]

Singapore .FTSTI rose 0.3 percent, with top lender DBS
Group (DBSM.SI) up 0.5 percent and telecom firm SingTel
(STEL.SI) up 0.8 percent. Malaysia .KLSE gained 0.4 percent,
with biggest power firm Tenaga Nasional (TENA.KL) up 2.9
percent.

Indonesia .JKSE extended its gains for a fifth day,
ending up 0.6 percent, with biggest lender Bank Mandiri
(BMRI.JK) surging 5 percent and fourth-largest Bank Negara
Indonesia (BBNI.JK) up 6.2 percent.

Indonesia was Southeast Asia's best performer on the week
with an 11.5 percent gain, followed by Singapore's 3.7 percent
rise and Vietnam's 2.8 percent gain.

"The past week has seen more "green shoots" of recovery in
the U.S. and China," said Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP
Capital Investors.

"The key is that the improving tone to economic data be
maintained, consistent with an economic recovery from later
this year and/or through 2010," he said.
($1=35.43 Baht)
(Editing by Alan Raybould)