Most Southeast Asian stock markets ended higher on Wednesday in cautious trading ahead of a meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) to cut oil production in an effort to prop up prices that have more than halved since 2014.
Vietnam reversed early-session losses and ended 1.03 percent higher after losing for four straight sessions. Consumer staples led the gains with Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Co ending 2.8 percent higher. Oil prices recovered as much as 2 percent on Wednesday following an Iraqi delegate statement that some form of deal would be reached between Opec members.
Singapore finished 0.9 percent higher extending gains for the seventh session. Financials led the gains on the index with Donald Trump's election victory boosting expectations of quicker inflation in the United States, just as the Federal Reserve appears poised to tighten policy, helping improve interest margins for Singapore banks.
Singapore's total bank lending in October rose with loans to manufacturing and general commerce increasing, central bank data showed on Wednesday. The city-state's top three banks, DBS Group Holdings ended 1.2 percent higher, United Overseas Bank Ltd closed 1.4 percent higher and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp finished 0.7 percent higher.
Indonesia rose marginally, helped by financials with PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) ending 3.3 percent higher. Thailand closed 0.9 percent higher, with energy financials stocks gaining the most. Thailand's October imports rose 7.4 percent on year while, exports fell 4.3 percent on year.
Also, Thailand's industrial output rose for a third straight month in October, however the gain was much smaller than expected, suggesting the recovery remains fragile. Bucking the trend, Malaysia fell 0.5 percent. The Philippine stock market was closed for a holiday.
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