Southeast Asian stock markets mostly rebounded in light trading volumes on Thursday on bargain hunting in battered large caps as investors in emerging markets braced for a possible US Fed rate lift-off in December. Singapore outperformed with the Straits Times Index up 1.2 percent after Wednesday's slide to a more than six-week closing low.
The most actively traded DBS Group Holdings rose 1 percent, recouping most of Wednesday's losses. Indexes in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia all recovered from the weakness in the previous session while Vietnam retreated after early gains. A rebound in global oil prices helped lure buyers of energy shares. Top gainers in the region included Thailand's PTT, Indonesia's Perusahaan Gas Negara and Malaysia's Petronas Dagangan. Trading volumes remained weak for most exchanges which were in the range of 70-80 percent of the 30-day average, suggesting limited share rallies in the near term, according to brokers.
Asian shares jumped after minutes of the previous US Federal Open Market Committee hinted at tightening at the December meeting. The stock market in the Philippines remained closed for a second day as Manila hosts a summit of the Asia Pacific Economic cooperation (Apec) forum.