Singapore stocks rose to their highest in three weeks on Wednesday, leading gains in other Southeast Asian stock markets as global economic optimism pushed up oil prices and spurred buying in regional commodity shares. Singapore ended up 1.3 percent, earlier hitting its highest since January 26, with coal miner Straits Asia Resources surging 5.7 percent.
Noble Group rose 3 percent while Olam gained 2.4 percent. "The positive sentiment in Singapore was generally correlated with the US market rally yesterday and now investors here are watching again for US data tonight," said a Singapore-based dealer.
Singapore and Malaysia resumed trading on Wednesday after the Lunar New Year holiday. Vietnam is closed for the week. Malaysia was up 0.5 percent at its highest since February 4, Indonesia rose 0.9 percent to the highest since February 5, and the Philippines surged 1.7 percent to its highest since January 22, building on a 6 percent gain in the previous five sessions. Thailand ended 0.7 percent higher, erasing some of its early gains as investors were worried about the political outlook.
"The market gain was helped by regional sentiment and most of it was based on short-term trade. Investors are still cautious about domestic politics," said Phillip Securities analyst Teerada Charnyingyong. Among gainers, energy firm PTT Exploration and Production rose 1.9 percent, coal miner Banpu was up 1.5 percent and top energy firm PTT added 0.9 percent.
In Kuala Lumpur, investors bought palm plantation shares as Malaysian palm oil futures rose to a more-than-five-week high after the long holiday, with Sime Darby up 1.2 percent and IOI Corp 1.9 percent higher. In Jakarta, resource shares rose further, with International Nickel Indonesia adding 2.7 percent and miner Bumi Resources up 4.3 percent. Financials were among market bright spots, with Bank Central Asia rising 2.7 percent and Bank Mandiri 1.7 percent higher. In Manila, Ayala Land was up 2.4 percent and SM Investment rose 2.8 percent.