Most Southeast Asian stock markets ended slightly higher on Thursday as gains in oil prices helped boost investor sentiment, but the US Federal Reserve's nod to jittery markets kept a lid on further gains. The Philippine stock index rose 0.9 percent to a near three-week high, Singapore added 0.6 percent, and Indonesia ended 0.4 percent up to a more than three-week high.
Thailand finished 0.8 percent firmer at over five-week closing high, while Malaysia gained 0.2 percent, with $83.6 million foreign inflow. Bucking the trend, Vietnam ended 0.6 percent down. The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and said it was "closely monitoring" global economic and financial developments, signalling it had accounted for a stock market selloff but was not ready to abandon a plan to tighten monetary policy this year.
The markets had expected a dovish Fed statement after volatility in financial markets since the US central bank raised its interest rates for the first time almost in a decade. Teerada Charnyingyong, an analyst with Phillip Capital in Bangkok said the markets traded in a tight range.