SE Asia Stocks-Mostly falter as N.Korea tension weighs

* Mostly lower hit by North Korea's missile test concerns

* S'pore snaps gains; Philippine at 8-day low on budget
fear

* Indonesia leads falls, Thai reverses early gains

By Ploy Chitsomboon

BANGKOK, May 26 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stocks
fell on Tuesday as tensions over North Korea's nuclear and
missile test offset recent optimism about a recovery in the
global economy.

Markets in the region dipped following a report that North
Korea would launch more short-range missiles, further raising
tensions after its nuclear test on Monday.

The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was down 1.05 percent as of 0945 GMT but
analysts said they believed the market impact will be
short-lived in a region growing accustomed to Pyongyang's
actions. [ID:nSEO205060]

"Essentially, what we heard about North Korea definitely
had an impact on the markets in the region otherwise they would
have gone up," said Gabriel Yap, senior dealing director, DMG &
Partners in Singapore.

"It has actually been a consolidation phase and I think the
markets will probably be more concerned about macro factors
like a batch of data from the U.S. due out this week."

U.S. housing and consumer confidence figures are due later
on Tuesday, followed by other important numbers later in the
week.

Singapore's index .FTSTI slid 1.26 percent, with
Southeast Asia's top lender DBS Group (DBSM.SI) falling 1.7
percent, casino operator Genting International GNTG.SI down
2.3 percent and shipbuilder COSCO Corp (COSC.SI) lost 3.25
percent.

Indonesia .JKSE shed 1.77 percent after a 0.3 percent
rise a day earlier. Thai shares .SETI erased early gains to
close down 1.4 percent, extending falls for a second day.
Vietnam .VNI, however, climbed 0.78 percent after a 4.2
percent rise on Monday. Vietnam is the region's best performer,
up 80 percent from its February low.

Losers in Bangkok included top oil and gas firm PTT
PTT.BK, which fell almost 1 percent as crude oil prices
CLc1 retreated more than 3 percent to below $60 a barrel. Top
lender Bangkok Bank BBL.BK dropped 2.8 percent and top
refiner Thai Oil TOP.BK edged 1.25 percent lower.

Malaysian stocks .KLSE eased 0.14 percent ahead of a
decision by the country's central bank to leave interest rates
unchanged at 2 percent, as expected. [nKLR289100]

Philippine stocks .PSI, meanwhile, ended down 1.07
percent, after touching their lowest since May 18, on worries
the government may borrow more after the finance chief said the
state may raise this year's budget deficit goal, traders said.
[nMAN59601]

Property firms were hit, led by a 1.85 percent slump of
Ayala Land Inc (AC.PS), the largest property developer, while
Megaworld Corp (MEG.PS) edged down 3.2 percent and Filinvest
Land Inc (FLI.PS) shed 4.1 percent.

In Jakarta, the biggest coal producer, Bumi Resources
(BUMI.JK), dropped 6.5 percent, and PT Aneka Tambang Tbk
(ANTM.JK) fell 2.55 percent.
($1 = 34.39 Baht)
(Editing by Lincoln Feast)