NEW YORK, Feb 19 — Shares in Singapore and the Philippines rose 1 per cent today, led by financials, as equity markets in the region followed a global recovery after recent volatility that stemmed from concerns over rising inflation.
Asia shares ex-Japan rose 0.5 per cent, while Wall Street gained marginally on Friday.
The rebound came after a global equity markets sell-off triggered by worries a rise in US inflation may boost dollar funding costs.
“With the US dollar heading lower, improving regional currency sentiment, global investors are moving back into undervalued pockets of local equity markets to pick up yield and gain local currency exposure,” said Stephen Innes, head of trading in Asia-Pacific for Oanda in Singapore.
The dollar held above three-year lows against a basket of currencies on Monday.
The US currency has been weighed down by a variety of factors this year, including concerns that Washington might pursue a weak dollar strategy.
In Southeast Asia, Singapore shares hit a two-week high, with financials and real estate stocks leading the gainers.
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd added as much as 1 per cent, while Hongkong Land Holdings Ltd rose over 2 per cent.
Philippines gained for a fourth straight session, led by industrial and financial stocks.
SM Investments Corp hit a near two-week high, while BDO Unibank Inc rose 2.5 per cent.
Malaysia jumped as much as 0.9 per cent to its highest in two weeks, led by financials and telecoms, and was on track for a fifth straight session of gains.
The Indonesian and Thai indexes touched their highest in more than two weeks. Vietnam was closed for a local holiday. — Reuters
Hi! I am a robot. I just upvoted you! I found similar content that readers might be interested in:
http://www.mystock118.com/2018/02/19/se-asia-stocks-higher-led-by-financials-malaysia-up-0-9pc/