SE Asia Stocks-off highs, S'pore, Indonesia end 2-day rally
* S'pore ends 2-day rise; Raffles, DBS lower
* Indonesia falls nearly 1 pct; Thailand up for 3rd day
* Malaysia, Philippine, Vietnam higher
By Viparat Jantraprap
BANGKOK, June 11 (Reuters) - Major Southeast Asian stock markets came off their early highs on Thursday, with losses in Raffles Education and DBS Group ending a 2-day rise in Singapore while Telkom and Astra International fell in Indonesia.
Oil prices CLc1, which firmed above $72 a barrel on Thursday, lured investors to commodity-related shares in the region. U.S. stock index futures DJc1, which pointed to a higher open on Thursday, helped to limit falls.
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.35 percent by 1039 GMT.
Hopes that a global economic recovery would come earlier than previously expected had a positive impact on corporate earnings outlooks and stock valuations, analysts said.
"Asian stocks have been in a similar pattern. With share prices exceeding fundamentals, we should see more profit taking and market volatility will continue," said Pichai Lertsupongkij, head of sales at Thanachart Securities.
"The recovery story will push equities prices higher because of analyst upgrades on earnings and target prices," he said.
Singapore's index .FTSTI fell 0.4 percent after a 2.5 percent gain over the past two days. Raffles Education Corp (RLSE.SI) slid 9.5 percent to S$0.62 after it said it will place 160 million new ordinary shares at S$0.64 each.
DBS Group (DBSM.SI), Southeast Asia's biggest bank, lost
2.2 percent after BNP Paribas cut its rating on the stock to
"hold" from "buy", saying the share price rise has factored in
the recovery.
Jakarta's index .JKSE dropped 0.9 percent after a 2.5 percent rise in the past two days. Indonesia's largest telecommunications firm PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (TLKM.JK) was down 2.6 percent and the largest automotive distributor PT Astra International Tbk (ASII.JK) lost 3.7 percent.
Thai stocks .JKSE gained 0.4 percent, adding to a 4.1 percent rise over the past two days. Malaysia .KLSE added 0.6 percent, after a 1.04 percent rise on Wednesday.
The Philippine index .PSI and Vietnam .VNI each jumped more than two percent.
In Bangkok, energy-related shares tracked oil prices higher, with PTT PCL PTT.BK, the country's largest energy firm, rising 2.9 percent and coal miner Banpu BANP.BK up 2.5 percent.
Banking shares led advancers in Kuala Lumpur, with
Bumiputra Commerce BUCM.KL up 2.2 percent and Malayan Banking
(MBBM.KL) adding 0.9 percent.
In Manila, Philippine Long Distance Telephone (TEL.PS), the
country's largest listed firm, surged 6 percent and
Petrovietnam Finance Joint Stock Corp PVF.HM climbed nearly 5
percent in Hanoi.
($1=34.05 Baht)
(Editing by Darren Schuettler)
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