SE Asia stocks steady ahead of quarterly earnings

Southeast Asian stock markets steadied on Monday with investors taking positions ahead of first-quarter economic growth numbers and as corporate earnings trickle in.

The focus on the French election has shifted from Sunday's first-round victory for centrist Emmanuel Macron to the May 7 runoff with far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen.

A Macron victory, seen largely as a more market-friendly outcome, is expected to take the uncertainty around the French exit, or 'Frexit', from the European Union off the table, as opposed to Le Pen's staunch separatist stance on the issue.

A plunge in China stocks amid signs that Beijing would tolerate more market volatility as regulators clamp down on shadow banking and speculative trading, weighed on sentiment.

Risk aversion was further strengthened amid fears that North Korea could conduct another nuclear test as tension escalated in the region after South Korea said it may hold joint drills with a US aircraft strike group.

"I would say incidences in other countries may have some impact but it's a combination of so many things rather than just one," said April Lee-Tan, head of research at COL Financial Group.

Singapore and Philippine shares came off early lows to close marginally higher, as markets took heart from European stocks opening sharply higher on Macron's lead in the first round.

Jardine Cycle & Carriage and Golden Agri-Resources rose 1.5% each, helping Singapore shares to close in positive territory.

The city-state's headline consumer price index in March rose 0.7% from a year earlier, in line with economist expectations, and is unlikely to shift the central bank's neutral policy stance.

Vietnam shares declined for a third straight session, ending down 0.4%.

Indonesian and Malaysian markets were closed for local holidays.