* S'pore up; DBS leads after analyst upgrade
* Indonesia outperforms on the week
* Thailand falls amid political concerns
By Viparat Jantraprap
BANGKOK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Singapore stocks edged slightly
higher on Friday as top bank DBS rose after an analyst's
upgrade, and Indonesia climbed almost 1 percent, with lenders
such as Bank Danamon and Bank Negara rising on an upbeat loan
growth outlook.
The Straits Times Index .FTSTI ended up 0.1 percent, with
DBS Group (DBSM.SI), Southeast Asia's biggest lender, up 1.8
percent at S$14.86. RBS upgraded its recommendation on the
stock to "buy" from "hold" and raised its target price to S$18.
MobileOne (MONE.SI) added 0.6 percent to S$1.76 as Nomura
raised its target price on the mobile phone operator to S$2.1,
citing its recent move to tap into the broadband internet
market and a deal to distribute the popular iPhone from Apple
(AAPL.O).
Singapore posted a 1.4 percent gain on the week, Southeast
Asia's second-best performance after Indonesia's 2.5 percent.
Singapore has forecast 2010 GDP growth of between 3 and 5
percent after a contraction this year. Dealers said the market
had priced in that growth and remained cautious.
"Moving forward, I think the market is looking for
affirmation of recovery signs. The market had been expecting
the worst to be over. Hence, any disappointment should result
in some sharp selling," a dealer at a Singapore brokerage said.
In Jakarta, the main index .JKSE turned round after a
small loss on Thursday, with coal miner Bumi Resources
(BUMI.JK) surging 7.6 percent and Unilever Indonesia (UNVR.JK)
rising 1.8 percent.
Elsewhere, Malaysia .KLSE inched down 0.2 percent, with
palm plantation firm KL Kepong (KLKK.KL) down 2.3 percent,
while Maybank (MBBM.KL) rose 0.14 percent after Citigroup
initiated coverage of Malaysian banks with Maybank as its top
pick.
Thailand .SETI fell 0.7 percent as investors sold big
caps amid political concerns, dealers said. Supporters of
former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra plan marches in Bangkok
later this month. [ID:nBKK351963]
Energy firm PTT Exploration and Production PTTE.BK lost
2.2 percent and the third-largest bank, Siam Commercial Bank
(SCB.BK), fell 1.8 percent.
"Sentiment in stock markets globally is broadly positive
due to good expectations on the economy. But the Thai market
will be a laggard because of concerns about domestic politics,"
said Viwat Techapoonphol, a strategist at Tisco Securities.
The Philippines .PSI and Vietnam .VNI ended three days
of gains, falling 0.5 percent and 0.8 percent respectively.
In Manila, Ayala (AC.PS) fell 2.4 percent but Philex Mining
Corp (PX.PS) jumped 6.1 percent after a newspaper reported the
president of San Miguel Corp (SMC.PS) was in talks to buy 22
percent of the Philippines' top miner.
In Hanoi, Vietcombank VCB.HM fell 1.4 percent and
property developer Hoang Anh Gia Lanh HAG.HM lost 3.2
percent.
(Editing by Alan Raybould)
