Thai stocks rose on Wednesday as the central bank's unexpected rate cut boosted interest rate-sensitive property stocks such as Land & Houses while most Southeast Asian stock markets posted limited gains after a range-bound session. Thai SET index rose 1.1 percent, building on the modest rise on Tuesday and further recouping its losses this month, after the Bank of Thailand surprisingly cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to cope with domestic risks.
The benchmark drifted lower in early trading hours as anti-government protesters marched across the Bangkok capital and stepped up protests across the country in an effort to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
The property sub-index was an outperformer, surging 3.3 percent, led by a 4.7 percent rise in shares of Land & Houses, the third-biggest percentage gainer on the large cap SET50 index.
Thai stocks suffered more outflows, with foreign investors selling a net 4.4 billion baht ($137.5 million) on the day, taking their net selling this month to $1.46 billion and year-to-date net selling to $4.9 billion.
In a choppy session, stocks in Indonesia closed up 0.4 percent, falling at one point to an 11-week low amid the weakness in the rupiah. The Indonesian currency lost 1.1 percent to its weakest since March 2009.
The Philippines, plagued by the impact of typhoon Haiyan, gained 0.5 percent following the rebound on Tuesday. Singapore and Malaysia were nearly flat, edging down 0.05 percent and up 0.02 percent, respectively.
Stocks in Vietnam pared early gains to fall 0.2 percent, after three straight sessions of rising streaks.