Indonesia led gains across Southeast Asian stock markets on Tuesday buoyed by prospects of steady economic growth in 2020, while Philippine markets ended slightly lower following a recovery in the country's largest stock.
Most regional markets had treaded water during the day due to apprehension over sustained stimulus measures in China, their largest trading partner. A spike in oil prices was also expected to bite local players with large oil imports.
However, Indonesian stocks closed nearly 0.8 percent higher after a finance ministry official said the government will target 5.3 percent to 5.6 percent economic growth in 2020, compared with 2019's target of 5.3 percent.
For the day, consumer staples and telecom stocks led gains, with Unilever Indonesia adding about 2 percent, while Telekomunikasi Indonesia rose 1.9 percent. Both sectors are heavily reliant on domestic demand.
Spirits were also high over the re-election prospects of incumbent President Joko Widodo, along with anticipation ahead of the first-quarter earnings season.
Malaysian equities ended 0.3 percent higher after regulators reassured investors that the country's financials markets remained "resilient." The benchmark index recovered after touching a more than three-year low on Thursday.
Local assets had taken a beating last week after FTSE flagged a possible exclusion of Malaysia's debt from its World Government Bond Index at the end of a review period in September.
For the day, most sectors ended higher. Latex gloves maker Hartalega Holdings
was the largest gainer on the index after Kenanga Investment Bank upgraded the stock's rating.
Philippine stocks pared most of the day's losses, ending about 0.2 percent lower following a recovery in the index's largest stock, SM Prime Holdings.
The property developer ended about 1.8 percent higher after it declared a cash dividend at a shareholder meeting, and outlined about 80 billion Philippine pesos ($1.54 billion) for its expansion plans in 2019.
Philippine markets had dropped as much as 0.8 percent in the morning after an earthquake in the country caused some disruption at major urban centres.