* Worries about recovery pace dampen regional mood
* Thailand down for fourth day, hits 8-week low
* But Singapore, Malaysia limit losses, Indonesia ends up
By Arada Kultawanich
BANGKOK, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Stocks in Thailand fell more
than 1.0 percent on Monday, leading major Southeast Asian
markets lower, with sagging energy shares such as PTT
Exploration and Production and oil and gas giant PTT weighing
on Bangkok.
Most other bourses in the region started the week with a
small fall in relatively light volume as concerns about the
U.S. financial sector and the pace of economic recovery
resurfaced, sending Wall Street down last Friday.
But last-minute buying helped cap falls in Singapore and
Malaysia, and Indonesia ended higher.
"There was some bargain-hunting in late tradeg after Dow
Jones futures returned to positive territory and oil prices
were rebounding," said Kosin Sripaiboon, head of research at
UOB KayHian Securities in Bangkok.
At 0959 GMT, Dow Jones futures DJc1 were up 0.52 percent
and S&P 500 futures SPc1 were up 0.54 percent.
Singapore's index .FTSTI dipped 0.22 percent after
Friday's 0.7 percent gain, Malaysia's index .KLSE eased 0.12
percent, but Indonesian shares .JKSE snapped earlier falls to
close up 0.17 percent.
But the smallest regional market, Vietnam .VNI, sank 4.33
percent to a near-four-week closing low. The Philippine market
.PSI was closed for a holiday.
Thai stocks .SETI extended their losing streak into a
fourth day, closing down 1.17 percent after hitting an
eight-week low in intraday trade, led by a 5.5 percent slide in
the country's top oil and gas explorer, PTT Exploration and
Production PTTE.BK (PTTEP), which has a big weighting in the
index.
PTTEP shares slid as much as 6.89 percent to their lowest
since Aug. 18 after an oil rig operated by its PTTEP
Australasia Pty Ltd subsidiary in the Montara field in the
Southern Timor Sea, which has been leaking for 10 weeks, caught
fire. [ID:nSYD469764]
Its parent, PTT (PTT.BK), Thailand's biggest energy firm,
fell nearly 3.0 percent.
"PTTEP's fall alone sent the overall Thai market down 4
points as investors are worried that the firm might write down
its $700-800 million investment on the site," said Pichai
Lertsupongkit, head of research at Thanachart Securities in
Bangkok.
Shares in PTT and PTTEP have a combined 20 percent
weighting on the main Thai index.
In Singapore, concern about U.S. financial markets and the
economic recovery there hit blue chips such as DBS Group
Holdings (DBSM.SI), which eased 0.15 percent, but CapitaLand
(CATL.SI), which fell 2.2 percent earlier, ended up 2.2
percent.
Singapore Telecommunications (STEL.SI), Southeast Asia's
largest telecoms company, rose 0.8 percent after it said it had
agreed to raise its effective stake in Indian mobile phone
operator Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO) to 31.95 percent from 30.43
percent. [ID:nSIN142598]
Transportation firm SMRT (SMRT.SI) rose nearly 3 percent
after UBS raised its target share price to S$2.15 from S$1.99
after the company booked better-than-expected second-quarter
earnings.
The Malaysian market was led by financial firm CIMB Group
(CIMB.KL), which lost nearly 1 percent at one stage before
closing up 0.32 percent. Gaming group Genting BHD GENT.BK
fell 1.24 percent.
In Indonesia, coal miner Bumi Resources (BUMI.JK) recovered
2.11 percent after falling 8.4 percent in early trade, and
Telekom Indonesia (TLKM.JK) dropped 1.8 percent.
($1=33.41 Baht)
(Editing by Alan Raybould)
