SE Asia Stocks-Markets fall on economic worries

* Singapore touches 3-week low

* Indonesia at 3-month low; trade volume higher

* Thailand at two-week low but GDP forecast lends support

By Viparat Jantraprap

BANGKOK, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets
endend lower on Thursday as investors worried over the economic
outlook and selling continued to hit big caps such as Singapore
Telecoms, CIMB Group and Indonesia's Bank Rakyat.

Dealers attributed the selling to a rebound in the U.S.
dollar and they expected volatility in the currency to remain
high ahead of key interest rate meetings in the United States
and European Union next week.

"For short term trade, risk lovers may pick up shares to
bet on a U.S. GDP surprise tonight. For investors with higher
risk aversion, we recommend waiting for the major events on
global forex," said Rakpong Chaisuparakul, a strategist at KGI
Securities, adding further dollar weakness could be expected.

Singapore's index .FTSI ended down 0.6 percent,
recovering some of its early fall to its lowest since Oct. 6,
with Singapore Telecommunications (STEL.SI), Southeast Asia's
biggest telecom firm, dropping 2 percent to a near-four-month
low.

In a semi-annual review, Singapore's central bank said the
city state was expected to see more gradual growth next year,
mainly driven by the service sector, after two quarters of
robust expansion. [nSIN22949]

Among other losers, top developer CapitaLand (CATL.SI) fell
1.7 percent while top bank DBS Group (DBSM.SI) eased 0.5
percent.

Malaysia's index .KLSE fell 0.6 percent to the lowest
since Oct. 14, weighed down by a 1 percent fall in financial
CIMB Group (CIMB.KL). AMMB Holdings (AMMB.KL) was down 1
percent and Genting (GENT.KL) 1.5 percent lower.

Thailand's stock index .SETI dropped 1.97 percent,
recovering a little ground after the Bank of Thailand announced
more positive economic forecasts. [nBKT003120]

At one stage the index slid 2.6 percent to its lowest since
Oct. 15. Among underperformers, top energy firm PTT PTT.BK
fell 3 percent and subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production
PTTE.BK dropped 3.4 percent.

Indonesia's index .JKSE also rallied a little to end down
0.5 percent after falling to its lowest since July 30, with
Bank Rakyat (BBRI.JK) 2 percent lower and Telkom Indonesia
(TLKM.JK) easing 1.2 percent.

The president director of Indonesia's stock exchange (IDX),
Ito Warsito, said on Thursday the correction in the Jakarta
stock market was "healthy" and normal. The index is still up
about 70 percent this year.

The Philippines .PSI and Vietnam .VNI both hit
three-week lows, falling 1.6 percent and 3 percent,
respectively.

In Manila, holding firm Metro Pacific Investments Corp
(MPI.PS) lost 1.5 percent while Manila Electric (MER.PS) fell
4.1 percent.

Metro Pacific expected to conclude talks soon to buy an
additional 6.7 percent stake in top power retailer Manila
Electric from the Lopez family, its chairman said.

In Hanoi, Vietnam's Sacombank STB.HM fell 3.5 percent
although the bank said its gross profit in the first nine
months of this year rose 62 percent from the same period last
year to 1.54 trillion dong, nearing its profit target for the
whole of 2009.
($1=33.37 Baht)
(Editing by Alan Raybould)