SE Asia Stocks-pull back; Malaysia extends fall on GDP

* S'pore eases; Thailand flat; Indonesia bucks trend

* Malaysia falls for 3rd day; more bearish GDP outlook

By Viparat Jantraprap

BANGKOK, May 28 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stocks
eased on Thursday, as investors worried about the U.S. economic
recovery, profit takers swooped on Singapore's CapitaLand and
Malaysia fell for a third day on a bearish GDP outlook.

Asian shares came off a seven-month high as concerns grew
that rising U.S. government debt yields could push up borrowing
costs and choke off a potential recovery in the world's largest
economy. [nSP399057]

At 1001 GMT, the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside
Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.05 percent.

Stocks in Southeast Asia were volatile this week amid
uncertainty over the global outlook and weaker-than-expected
first quarter GDP numbers from Thailand, Malaysia and the
Philippines, analysts said.

"The market has been inclined to say the worst of the
downturn is behind us, and hope that growth could resume on a
positive trajectory as we move into the second half of the
year," David Cohen, Director of Asian Economic Forecasting for
Action Economics said.

"But there is certainly enough cloudy data out there to
make people unsure about how much of a rebound we're going to
see. So the market has been a little jittery," he said.

Singapore's Straits Times Index .FTSTI fell 0.6 percent,
erasing a 3 percent rise to an eight-month high on Wednesday.

Developer CapitaLand (CATL.SI) slid 2.4 percent, while
lender DBS Group (DBSM.SI) was off 1.7 percent.

Malaysia's index .KLSE fell for a third day, ending down
0.6 percent, after Prime Minister Najib Razak said the domestic
economy would shrink by as much as 5 percent in 2009, its
biggest fall in a decade. [nSP416588]

Among decliners in Kuala Lumpur, mobile phone operator
Axiata Group (AXIA.KL) fell 4.1 percent and Kuala Lumpur Kepong
(KLKK.KL), the third largest listed planter, dropped 3.4
percent.

The Philippines .PSI ended down 0.1 percent. The
country's economy shrank a seasonally adjusted 2.3 percent in
the first quarter, its weakest performance in two decades.

Thailand's benchmark SET index .SETI ended unchanged,
while Vietnam .VNI lost 2.3 percent. Indonesia's index
.JKSE added 0.5 percent after a 1.9 percent gain on
Wednesday.

In Jakarta, the largest automotive distributor, Astra
International (ASII.JK) rose 4.8 percent and cigarette maker
Gudang Garam (GGRM.JK) jumped 10.6 percent.

Bank shares led the Thai market lower, with Bangkok Bank
BBL.BK down 0.3 percent and Kasikornbank KBAN.BK off 1.3
percent.

Moody's Investors Service said on Wednesday it was
reviewing 11 banks in Thailand for a possible downgrade.
Brokers said the review would put more pressure on banking
stocks, but it was unlikely to have significant impact on the
banks' operations.

"If Thai bank ratings are downgraded, the impact to the
operations of the banks appears limited given their small
exposure to foreign deposits, about 3.0 percent of total
interest liability, and very little reliance on foreign
borrowing," said Worawat Saisuphatphol, banking analyst at KGI
Securities.
($1 = 34.41 Baht)
(Additional reporting by Eveline Danubrata in Singapore;
Editing by Darren Schuettler)