SE Asia Stocks-Malaysia weak; March inflation meets forecast

BANGKOK, April 16 (Reuters) - Malaysian stocks hit

three-week lows on Wednesday as investors booked profits in

shares of large cap companies ahead of the release of March

inflation data while the Thai benchmark index breached a key

1,400 mark amid selective buying in banking shares ahead of

results.

Stocks on the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index

(KLCI) fell 0.5 percent to 1,845.37, the lowest close

since March 26. Among the losers, shares of Telekom Malaysia

dropped 1.7 percent, erasing some of Tuesday's gains.

Malaysia's consumer price index in March rose

3.5 percent from a year earlier, reflecting a hike in food,

transport and electricity prices, data from the Statistics

Department showed on Wednesday.

The data was released near the closing hour.

The Thai SET index gained 0.9 percent to 1,401.84.

The banking subindex was among the outperformers, up 1.1

percent. Thai banks are due to report their January-March

earnings from this week.

The Philippine index extended its gain for a second

session, adding 0.8 percent to the highest close since July 30,

ahead of a four-day holiday starting Thursday.

Stocks in Vietnam bucked the trend, with the main index

falling for a fifth session to the lowest since March 4

as investors were cautious on the first day of a high-profile

financial fraud case.

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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change on day

Market Current Prev Close Pct Move

TR SE Asia Index* 419.27 418.02 +0.30

Singapore 3253.20 3246.32 +0.21

Kuala Lumpur 1845.37 1853.88 -0.46

Bangkok 1401.84 1389.16 +0.91

Jakarta 4873.01 4870.22 +0.06

Manila 6671.18 6621.66 +0.75

Ho Chi Minh 574.29 586.09 -2.01

Change on year

Market Current End 2013 Pct Move

TR SE Asia Index* 419.27 388.37 +7.96

Singapore 3253.20 3167.43 +2.71

Kuala Lumpur 1845.37 1866.96 -1.16

Bangkok 1401.84 1298.71 +7.94

Jakarta 4873.01 4274.18 +14.01

Manila 6671.18 5889.83 +13.27

Ho Chi Minh 574.29 504.63 +13.80

* The Thomson Reuters South East Asia Index is a

highly representative indicator of stocks listed in Indonesia,

Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

(Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)