Reuters SE Asia Stocks-Mostly falter as N.Korea tension weighs

* Mostly lower hit by North Korea's missile test concerns
* S'pore snaps gains; Philippine at 8-day low on budget fear
* Indonesia leads falls, Thai reverses early gains

By Ploy Chitsomboon

BANGKOK, May 26 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stocks fell on Tuesday as tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile test offset recent optimism about a recovery in the global economy.

Markets in the region dipped following a report that North Korea would launch more short-range missiles, further raising tensions after its nuclear test on Monday.

The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was down 1.05 percent as of 0945 GMT but analysts said they believed the market impact will be
short-lived in a region growing accustomed to Pyongyang's actions. [ID:nSEO205060]

"Essentially, what we heard about North Korea definitely had an impact on the markets in the region otherwise they would have gone up," said Gabriel Yap, senior dealing director, DMG & Partners in Singapore.

"It has actually been a consolidation phase and I think the markets will probably be more concerned about macro factors like a batch of data from the U.S. due out this week."

U.S. housing and consumer confidence figures are due later on Tuesday, followed by other important numbers later in the week.

Singapore's index .FTSTI slid 1.26 percent, with Southeast Asia's top lender DBS Group (DBSM.SI) falling 1.7 percent, casino operator Genting International (GNTG.SI) down 2.3 percent and shipbuilder COSCO Corp (COSC.SI) lost 3.25 percent.

Indonesia .JKSE shed 1.77 percent after a 0.3 percent rise a day earlier. In Jakarta, the biggest coal producer, Bumi Resources (BUMI.JK), dropped 6.5 percent, and PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (ANTM.JK) fell 2.55 percent.

Thai shares .SETI erased early gains to close down 1.4 percent, extending falls for a second day. Losers in Bangkok included top oil and gas firm PTT (PTT.BK), which fell almost 1 percent as crude oil prices CLc1 retreated more than 3 percent to below $60 a barrel. Top lender Bangkok Bank BBL.BK dropped 2.8 percent and top refiner Thai Oil TOP.BK edged 1.25 percent lower.

Vietnam .VNI, however, climbed 0.78 percent after a 4.2 percent rise on Monday. Vietnam is the region's best performer, up 80 percent from its February low.

Malaysian stocks .KLSE eased 0.14 percent ahead of a decision by the country's central bank to leave interest rates unchanged at 2 percent, as expected. [nKLR289100]

Philippine stocks .PSI, meanwhile, ended down 1.07 percent, after touching their lowest since May 18, on worries the government may borrow more after the finance chief said the state may raise this year's budget deficit goal, traders said.
[nMAN59601]

Property firms were hit, led by a 1.85 percent slump of Ayala Land Inc (AC.PS), the largest property developer, while Megaworld Corp (MEG.PS) edged down 3.2 percent and Filinvest Land Inc (FLI.PS) shed 4.1 percent.



(Editing by Lincoln Feast)