Southeast Asian markets: Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia around two-week high

Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Wednesday, with demand from local institutions shoring up Thai energy and big-caps and optimism over the economic outlook bolstering sentiment in the rest of the region. Singapore's Straits Times Index rose for a fourth session, adding 0.8 percent to two-week highs, but trade remained thin in the final week of the year, as elsewhere.
Thailand's SET index gained 0.6 percent and Indonesia's main share index climbed 1.1 percent, both also around two-week highs. Malaysia's index added 0.5 percent, hitting a seven-week peak, and the Philippine index climbed 0.9 percent to its highest in three weeks as the central bank left its policy rate at a record low. But Vietnam bucked the trend, inching down 0.12 percent.
Broker DBS Group Equity Research rates Thailand and Indonesia "overweight", with Malaysia and Singapore on "neutral", and industrials, commodities and consumer discretionary stocks were its preferred sectors. In Bangkok, local funds contined to dominate the market, pushing shares in Bangkok Bank up 2.1 percent. Among outperforming large-cap stocks, top Singapore developer CapitaLand was up 1.9 percent, extending gains from Tuesday when it said one of its new Beijing residential projects had seen brisk sales over the Christmas weekend.
Philippine food-to-property conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc rose 3.1 percent and Manila Electric Company (Meralco), the country's largest power retailer, surged 7.3 percent. Malaysia's top lender, Malayan Banking, rose 0.7 percent, while PT Bank Negara Indonesia, Indonesia's fourth biggest lender, climbed 4.1 percent and PT Astra International, its biggest firm, rose 1 percent.