Telecom stocks, which have substantial weightage in Indonesia's benchmark, in particular have been benefitting from the lockdown in the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as data traffic has been growing exponentially. Analysts expect this to lead to a 6%-7% rise in 2020 revenue for the cellular industry.
In the same vein, Indonesia's XL Axiata closed up 11%, its highest since Feb. 28. The wireless telecom company said it remains cautiously positive and expects COVID-19 tailwinds in March to boost traffic volumes going into the second quarter of 2020.
Thai stocks closed up 0.7% after falling as much as 1.7% earlier in the day.
Malaysia's main index settled marginally higher, with Top Glove Corp closing up 5.4% and Hartalega Holdings 4.4% higher.
Meanwhile, Philippines closed the session 0.3% down, with Alliance Global falling 4.5% and GT Capital tumbling over 5%.