Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Wednesday, led by the Philippines, ahead of the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy statement due out later in the day. The Philippine stock index ended 3.1 percent firmer near a three-week high, led by financials. Thailand gained 0.8 percent to a two-week closing high, led by banks, while Indonesia closed 1.6 percent higher on the back of large caps. Malaysia saw a net $35.99 million foreign inflow, while Thailand witnessed $13.20 million net foreign buying.
"We expect to see a dovish Fed statement as global and China's economic concerns become one of the key factors on rate decision," said Teerada Charnyingyong, an analyst with Phillip Capital in Bangkok. However, John Teja, director at Jakarta-based Ciptadana Securities, said the Fed statement is likely to be hawkish to allow them to retain the option of raising rates again and thus there will be negative impact on risky assets.
The Fed's statement will explain the state of the world's largest economy and its stance on interest rate hike in the future. Many expect it to be dovish. Bank of Japan will hold its policy meetings on January 28-29. Vietnam's benchmark VN Index ended about 1 percent higher on Wednesday, with most shares advancing in volatile trade, following a correction in the previous day.
Banks led the gainers, with BIDV, the country's top listed lender by assets, rising 4.24 percent and VietinBank advancing 0.57 percent. PetroVietnam Gas extended its gain to a fourth consecutive session, rallying 2.82 percent to the highest level so far this year. As many as 124.97 million shares changed hand, far below the five-day average of 150.6 million, Thomson Reuters data showed.
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