Southeast Asian markets: Philippine index climbs; Vietnam at over 10-year top

Philippine shares marked a record close on Thursday on broad-based gains, while Vietnam ended at its highest in more than ten years as trading resumed after the exchange was shut for two days due to a technical issue. Gains on the Philippine stock exchange were mainly led by industrial stocks, with SM Investments Corp closing at a record after declining 0.6 percent on Wednesday.
International Container Terminal Services Inc rose 3.1 percent, its best close since June, 2015. The stock fell 2.6 percent on Wednesday. "Yesterday, we had a correction and some profit-taking, so today we are seeing stocks that declined recover what they lost," said Jeffrey Lucero, an equity research analyst at RCBC Securities.
Vietnam ended 1.6 percent higher after jumping as much as 2.7 percent intraday. Financials and utility stocks led the gainers, with Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Viet Nam touching a record high, and oil and gas refiner Petrovietnam Gas Joint Stock Corp hitting a more than three-year high.
"It is hard to say whether the market would correct immediately. The fundamentals like macroeconomics, inflows, M&A deals, privatisations are still lending support," said Le Thu Ha, an investment analyst with Vietcombank Securities. Malaysian shares were up 0.5 percent, supported by financials, after the country's central bank raised its key interest rate for the first time since July 2014.
Malaysia is the first in Southeast Asia to raise its key rate in years, and the first Asian nation to hike them in 2018. Malayan Banking Bhd, a holding company for the Maybank group, finished 0.9 percent higher, while CIMB Group Holdings Bhd rose 1 percent.
Singapore shed 1 percent, weighed down by financials and industrial stocks. DBS Group Holdings Ltd fell 1.5 percent, while Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd dropped 1.4 percent. Asian stocks, meanwhile, hit a record high on Thursday though concerns about the Trump administration's protectionist stance tempered enthusiasm in financial markets.