



SINGAPORE: Southeast Asian stock markets closed lower on Monday, with the Philippines posting its sharpest fall in nearly three weeks, as investors dumped risky assets on expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would raise interest rates later this week."There is a lot of foreign selling pressure right now in anticipation of a rate hike in the United Sates. This could even push the Philippine peso beyond the 50 (per dollar) level," said Manny Cruz, an analyst with Manila-based Asiasec Equities Inc.The peso touched a two-week low of 49.870 against the dollar, before paring its losses, helped by greenback selling from domestic players."I think it is risk-off ahead of Tuesday's Fed meeting," said Victor Felix, an analyst with AB Capital Securities in Manila."The news about the production cut seems to be immaterial," he said referring to a decision by OPEC and non-OPEC producers to curb oil output in their first deal since 2001.Oil prices soared following the announcement of the deal, but did little to boost sentiment in the Philippines, which is a major oil importer.Philippine shares closed down 2.5 percent, dragged down by falls in consumer non-cyclical and industrial stocks.Ayala Land Inc dropped 5.6 percent and was the worst performer.Singapore shares touched a one-week low, hit by consumer services and industrial stocks, while oil and gas stocks led the gains.Among the top losers, Hongkong Land Holdings Ltd shed 2.5 percent, while rig builder Keppel Corp gained nearly 6 percent.Vietnam closed lower with financials and consumer cyclicals among the major losers.Markets in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand were closed for a holiday. - Reuters