Tread water amid fears over global economy; Indonesia gains

(Reuters) - Indonesian shares gained on Thursday, clawing back some of the previous session's losses, while lingering fears over U.S. monetary policy tightening and slowing global economy kept most Southeast Asian stock markets on the backfoot.

Broader Asian shares ticked up slightly, drawing confidence from overnight gains on Wall Street after a selloff earlier this week in technology heavyweights. [MKTS/GLOB] [.N]

However, tensions over Sino-U.S. trade ahead of a high-stakes meeting this month between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping kept investor sentiment fragile in Asia.

Indonesian shares <.JKSE> gained 0.6 percent, after two losing sessions, led by financials and consumer staples.

"I think investors are considering Indonesia as an relatively insulated market during this tech and export driven retreat," said Taye Shim, head of research and strategist at Mirae Asset Sekuritas.

"Further, Indonesia surprised the market with its recent rate hike – which we think is a country specific relief factor, which reinforced investor sentiment on the Indonesian market."

Indonesia's central bank on Nov.15 unexpectedly raised its benchmark interest rate for the sixth time this year, as policymakers struggle to reduce imports and lower the country's current-account deficit.

Thai shares <.SETI> also edged higher, propped up by gains in energy and consumer stocks.

Demand for energy stocks was boosted by an overnight recovery in oil prices. [O/R]

Gas and petroleum supplier PTT PCL and convenience stores operator CP All PCL climbed marginally. Singapore shares <.STI> were little changed after the city-state's third-quarter GDP data showed economic growth was slower than expected.

Conglomerate Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd gained as much as 2.8 percent, while Wilmar International Ltd slipped 1.6 percent.

The government also flagged further moderation in the current quarter and warned that the U.S.-Sino trade war will hurt growth in 2019.

"Broadly, global demand may be dampened by moderating US growth (amid fading fiscal stimulus) and US-China trade tensions compound drag in Asia via China," Vishnu Varathan, senior economist at Mizuho Bank said in a note.

Philippines shares <.PSI> inched lower, as industrials and real estate stocks such as SM Prime Holdings and SM Investment posted losses.

(Reporting by Shreya Mariam Job and Aman Swami; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)

By Aman Swami