Southeast Asia stocks - Most fall on Sino-U.S. trade worries; Vietnam sole gainer

(Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets closed lower on Tuesday, with Malaysia leading the decline and Thailand snapping a nine-session winning streak, as concerns heightened about Sino-U.S. trade relations after the United States charged China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd with fraud.

The U.S. Justice Department charged Huawei and its chief financial officer with conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran by doing business through a subsidiary it tried to hide and that was reported on by Reuters in 2012 and 2013.

In a separate case, the department charged the telecommunications equipment maker with stealing robotic technology from T-Mobile US Inc. Huawei has said the companies settled their dispute in 2017.

A further escalation in the U.S.-China trade war will likely trigger an even sharper global economic slowdown this year, economists said in a recent Reuters poll.

Meanwhile, China unveiled a flurry of measures aimed at spurring sales of items ranging from cars and appliances to information services.

Malaysian shares closed 0.4 percent lower with investors nervously awaiting the latest round of China-U.S. trade talks which will take place in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday.

Telecom firm Axiata Group Bhd lost 4.4 percent, while chemical producer Petronas Chemicals Group fell 2 pct.

Thai shares closed slightly lower, weighed down by energy stocks. Index heavyweights PTT and PTT Exploration and Production declined 1 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

Investors now await January inflation data due on Friday for clues about the economy. A Reuters poll showed the annual headline inflation rate in January may have slowed from the previous month and stayed below the central bank's target range for a third straight month.

Singapore shares fell 0.7 percent intraday before recovering slightly to close 0.4 percent lower. Singapore Airlines Ltd and Keppel Corp fell 1.1 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

Vietnam shares were the sole gainers in Southeast Asia, recovering from early losses to rise 0.4 percent. The benchmark stock index closed higher for a fifth straight session.

Financial and real estate stocks were the top gainers, with Vietcombank climbing over 2 percent and Vinhomes JSC rising more than 1 percent.

(Reporting by Mensholong Lepcha; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

By Mensholong Lepcha