SE Asia Stocks-Higher amid bargain hunting

Southeast Asian stock markets posted small gains on Tuesday as bargain hunting emerged in battered large caps, with Singapore's index rebounding from a two-week low on the previous day, led by shares of Singapore Telecommunications. Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.4 per cent to 3,326.77. It fell to 3,314.13 on Monday, the lowest close since Aug. 18. Shares of Sing Tel, the largest stock by market capitalisation, rebounded after two consecutive sessions of falls, trading up 1.29 per cent. In Bangkok, the key SET index edged up 0.2 per cent by midday as shares of banks such as Bangkok Bank extended gains from the previous session as investors built positions in sectors expected to benefit from a new government. Shares of TMB Bank were an outperformer, rising more than 2 per cent to a near eight-year high. Stocks in Indonesia and the Philippines extended their gains for a second day. Malaysia's index  edged slightly higher. Vietnam was closed on Tuesday, reopening on Wednesday. In Jakarta, shares of XL Axiata surged more than 7 per cent after the telecommunications company has finalised a deal to resell a 2.7 per cent stake in the company it had bought back from investors, to strengthen its finances. Among weak spots in the region, shares of Singapore's STATS ChipPAC fell 10 per cent, a day after a potential bidder for the Singapore company said there was a low likelihood of a deal within the next three months, according to Reuters.