* Thai shares climb on central bank rate cut
* Jakarta touches 1-week low, poor bank outlook
By Viparat Jantraprap
BANGKOK, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Thai shares .SETI jumped more
than 1 percent on Wednesday as a bigger-than-expected interest
rate cut aimed at reviving a struggling economy helped the main
index reverse early session losses.
The SET ended the day up 1.3 percent, erasing a 0.6 percent
fall before the Bank of Thailand cut its main interest rate by
75 basis points to 2.00 percent, the second hefty cut in two
months. Economists said further easing was likely.
"It seems that the central bank will continue to cut rates
and we expect to see the key policy rate drop to 1.00 percent
in the middle of this year," Nuchjarin Panarode, an economist
at Capital Market Securities, said.
The market was also buoyed by investor optimism that
government stimulus measures would help boost domestic
consumption later this year.
Among active stocks, Siam Commercial Bank SCB.BK rose 2.5
percent and Kasikornbank KBAN.BK was up 1.1 percent ahead of
full-year results next week.
Despite the rally in Thailand, analysts said the appetite
for equities was limited by the impact of the global economic
slowdown on corporate profits.
In Indonesia, the main index .JKSE hit a more than 1-week
low as bank shares slumped on a poor outlook for loan growth.
The index ended 0.92 percent lower, after earlier falling
as much as 1.2 percent to its lowest since Jan. 5. Top lender
PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BBRI.JK) slid 1 percent and Bank
Mandiri (BMRI.JK) was off 3.9 percent.
"Bad news will keep equities markets moving downward. Poor
quarterly results later this month will be one selling
trigger," said Viwat Techapoonphol, a strategist at Tisco
Securities.
Other major Southeast Asian stocks ended mixed, with
Singapore shares .FTSTI inching up 0.16 percent, Malaysian
shares .KLSE drifting down 0.03 percent and Philippines
stocks .PSI closing 0.56 percent lower.
Singapore's banks were mixed, with DBS Group (DBSM.SI) up
1.7 percent and United Overseas Bank (UOBH.SI) 1.45 percent
higher.
Jurong Technologies (JTIL.SI) shares dropped by more than
half after it said Oversea-Chinese Banking (OCBC.SI) had
demanded repayment of loans to be made in three weeks.
In Malaysia, worries were mounting for the domestic
economy, which Citibank said might tip into recession in the
last quarter of 2008 and first quarter of this year.
Among Malaysian shares, Bumiputra-Commerce BUCM.KL led
decliners with a 3.6 percent fall. Gainers were led by
plantation firm IOI Corp (IOIB.KL), up 0.53 percent in response
to a rise in Malaysian palm oil futures. [nSP138835]
($1=34.84 Baht)
(Editing by Darren Schuettler)
