By Nikhil Nainan
    Dec 21 (Reuters) - Indonesian shares closed at a record high
on Thursday, bouncing back from a drop in the previous session,
after Fitch raised the country's credit ratings to their second
lowest investment grade.
    Fitch upgraded Indonesia's credit ratings to 'BBB', with its
outlook as stable, saying economic and monetary policies have
made Southeast Asia's largest economy resilient to external
shocks.
    "Fitch's upgrade may now raise expectations of an upgrade by
Moody's next year, given that Moody's has already put
Indonesia's rating on a positive outlook in early-2017," Gundy
Cahyadi, an economist with DBS Group Research, said in a note. 
    The Jakarta SE Composite Index closed 1.2 percent
higher, rising for a seventh session in eight, while an index of
the country's 45 most liquid stocks climbed 1.7
percent.
    Financial and consumer staple stocks led the gains, with
Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk PT and Unilever
Indonesia Tbk PT rising 3.4 percent and 1 percent,
respectively.    
    Philippine shares erased earlier losses to close 0.2
percent higher, aided by gains in industrials. 
    Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc rose 3.1 percent, while
PLDT Inc and Globe Telecom Inc declined as
news of a third telecom provider to challenge the existing
duopoly gains steam.
    Thai shares closed slightly lower, after gaining as
much as 0.2 percent on upbeat customs-cleared annual exports.

    Exports, a key driver of Thailand's growth, increased 13.4
percent in November from a year earlier, surpassing a Reuters
median forecast of a 6.4 percent rise. 
    Singaporean shares dropped for a sixth session,
dragged by financial and real estate stocks.
    Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp declined 0.8 percent,
while CapitaLand Commercial Trust fell over 3 percent.
    A Reuters poll showed that industrial output in November
likely expanded at its slowest pace in six months, signalling a
tempering in fourth-quarter economic growth. The data is
expected to be released next week.  
    
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

 Change on the day                                  
 Market                   Current   previous close  Pct Move
 Singapore                3382.53   3394.87         -0.36
 Bangkok                  1736.91   1738.16         -0.07
 Manila                   8378.28   8362.61         0.19
 Jakarta                  6183.391  6109.482        1.21
 Kuala Lumpur             1751.21   1746.63         0.26
 Ho Chi Minh              946.06    953.51          -0.78
                                                    
 Change so far this year                            
 Market                   Current   End 2016        Pct Move
 Singapore                3382.53   2880.76         17.42
 Bangkok                  1736.91   1542.94         12.57
 Manila                   8378.28   6840.64         22.48
 Jakarta                  6183.391  5296.711        16.74
 Kuala Lumpur             1751.21   1641.73         6.67
 Ho Chi Minh              946.06    664.87          42.29
 

 (Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan in Bengaluru; Editing by
Subhranshu Sahu)