Southeast Asian stocks were skittish on Wednesday, but managed to end higher after the Philippines and Malaysia reversed early-session losses, tracking buoyant Asian peers that rose on strong overnight gains on Wall Street. Most markets were lacklustre as investors shrugged off risky emerging markets for safer bets following robust performance from Wall Street's three main stock indexes that ended at record highs for a second straight day on Tuesday.
"There's divergence right now between the US and emerging markets. Capital flows are going back to the US because of the expected interest rate hike (by the Federal Reserve), and Donald Trump's political agenda that is expected to boost US yields," said Ralph Bodollo, an equity research analyst with RCBC Securities.
Philippine shares ended half-a-percent higher, after having fallen 1.2 percent in the morning, snapping two sessions of losses.
Industrials outperformed, led by gains in index heavyweight JG Summit Holdings Inc.
Indonesia also pared losses to close slightly higher for a second session. The gains were supported by consumer staples, with Unilever Indonesia Tbk PT up 1.6 percent.
Singapore outperformed other regional markets to end 0.6 percent higher, following data that showed its headline consumer price index fell in October.
The city-state's big three banks, DBS Holdings United Overseas Bank Ltd and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, posted mild gains.
Malaysian shares, which had dropped in early trade, ended slightly higher, with financials losing the most after the central bank kept its policy rate at 3 percent on Wednesday, as expected.