By Chris Thomas
    Dec 11 (Reuters) - Singapore shares climbed 1 percent
to their highest close in two-and-a-half years on Monday, riding
on a rally in financials, while Vietnam stocks tumbled
2.4 percent in their sharpest drop in nearly two years.
    The city-state's top lenders United Overseas Bank,
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and DBS Group 
surged to record closing highs.
    ComfortDelGro Corp climbed 6.3 percent after the
city-state's top taxi operator said on Friday it would buy a 51
percent stake in a unit of San Francisco-based Uber          
that runs a fleet of private hire vehicles.
    Asian shares were also buoyant following strong U.S.
payrolls data and better-than-expected Chinese trade figures on
Friday. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside
Japan was up 0.7 percent at 553.25 as of 0924
GMT, well above a recent two-month trough of 542.27.
    Vietnam shares, which have been Southeast Asia's best
performers so far this year with a gain of more than 41 percent
as of Friday's close, fell for a fourth session in five. 
    Most of the sectors were in the red, with Saigon Beer
Alcohol Beverage Corp and Vietcombank shedding
5.2 percent each to settle at three-week closing lows.
    Philippine shares recovered from early falls to close
at two-week highs, buoyed by heavyweights SM Investments Corp
 and BDO Unibank Inc.
    Earlier, Fitch Ratings upgraded the country's credit rating
to 'BBB' from 'BBB-', citing its strong economic performance and
policies.
    SM Investments rose 1.7 percent to its highest close in over
a month and BDO Unibank climbed 3.4 percent to a record close,
outweighing losses in top telecom stocks.
    PLDT Inc plunged 5 percent to its lowest close
since March and Globe Telecom Inc dropped 4 percent to
its lowest close since February after the Philippine government
indicated a Chinese company could enter the market.
    Malaysian and Indonesian shares closed
marginally lower, while Thai stocks ended at a near
two-week top.
    An index of Indonesia's 45 most liquid stocks rose
0.1 percent.
        
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
    
 Change on day                                
 Market             Current   Previous close  Pct Move
 Singapore          3460.45   3424.64         1.05
 Bangkok            1706.52   1703.37         0.18
 Manila             8358.57   8304.7          0.65
 Jakarta            6026.633  6030.958        -0.07
 Kuala Lumpur       1719.47   1721.25         -0.10
 Ho Chi Minh        917.45    940.16          -2.42
                                              
 Change on year                               
 Market             Current   End 2016        Pct Move
 Singapore          3460.45   2880.76         20.12
 Bangkok            1706.52   1542.94         10.60
 Manila             8358.57   6840.64         22.19
 Jakarta            6026.633  5296.711        13.78
 Kuala Lumpur       1719.47   1641.73         4.74
 Ho Chi Minh        917.45    664.87          37.99
 
 (Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu
Sahu)