Most Southeast Asian stock markets ended higher on Wednesday, with the Philippines gaining 2 percent, as encouraging Chinese economic data and Wall Street advancing on solid corporate earnings kept investor sentiment agreeable. China's economy grew 6.7 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, steady from the previous quarter and in line with market expectations.
Wednesday's data portrayed the economy as slowly stabilising but increasingly needy for government spending and a housing boom for growth, as private investment and exports remain weak. Investment in Chinese real estate picked up pace in September after edging higher in the previous month, highlighting the persistence of investor demand. "China data is a bit of a mixed bag. Though the headlines said met expectations, there are some soft spots in the gain in industrial production," said Vishnu Varathan, a senior economist with Singapore-based Mizuho Corporate Bank.
"To the extent that investments in China are holding up, it's giving some of the China-focused markets a bit of a lift." Philippine shares saw gains across all sectors, led by financial and consumer stocks. BDO Unibank Inc rose as much as 3.7 percent, its biggest percentage gain in three months, before closing 3.6 percent higher. Philippine stocks began rallying on Tuesday on hopes that President Rodrigo Duterte's foreign visits would create an inflow of business. Duterte is in China this week. Vietnam's main stock index rose 1 percent as financial and consumer stocks powered through. Real estate investing firm Vingroup JSC climbed 2 percent. Thai shares extended gains after mid-day, rising 0.6 percent. Consumer stocks were the biggest gainers. Indonesia was the only market that fell, with a 0.4 percent drop.
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