SINGAPORE: Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Monday, tracking Asian peers, after chances of the US Federal Reserve hiking interest rates four times this year dimmed following data that showed jobs jumped and wage growth slowed in February.
Inflation worries faded on Friday after US data showed nonfarm payrolls jumped by 313,000 jobs last month, but the annual growth in average hourly earnings slowed to 2.6 percent after a spike in January.
The slowdown in wage growth tempered speculation that the Federal Reserve would project four rate hikes - or dot plots - at its policy meeting next week, instead of the current three.
Asia shares ex-Japan climbed 1.3 percent, heading for a third straight session of gains.
"I think the latest data points are positive for markets. We are starting to see a move back to risky assets like equities," said Joel Ng, a research analyst at KGI Securities in Singapore.
"We are positive on equity markets... the earnings growth is positive, dividends are rising. All these are contributing to better prospects for equity markets in 2018."
In Southeast Asia, Singapore shares rose 1.6 percent following a gain of 0.2 percent last week.
Conglomerate Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd rose 3 percent, extending gains into a third session after results last week showed profit jumped more than 50 percent.
"You can see that there is growth in most of its business segments like Jardine Pacific and Jardine Motors," said KGI Securities' Ng.
Malaysian shares rose 0.9 percent, with CIMB Group Holdings Bhd contributing the most to the index's gain.
The country's banks will continue to perform well in 2018, Moody's said in a report on Monday.
Philippine shares climbed 1 percent after ending the previous week about 1 percent lower.
Ayala Corp rose 1.2 percent after reporting a jump of more than 16 percent in net income attributable for 2017.
Thai shares closed higher for the first time in nine sessions as financials and energy stocks gained. PTT Pcl rose 4.5 percent, while Siam Cement PCL gained 2.4 percent.
Indonesian shares climbed over 1 percent, helped by financials and consumer discretionary stocks. Bank Central Asia rose 1.4 percent and was the top contributor to the index.
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