Southeast Asian stocks rise as oil bounces back

Singapore was up 0.6 percent.

Southeast asia stocks rise
An investor walks past an electronic board displaying live market data at a stock broker's office in central Bangkok, Thailand, August 19, 2015 Reuters

Southeast Asian shares made gains on Monday as the snow storm and cold spell in the US lifted oil prices.

Thailand made the most gains intra-day, rising to more than three-week high, while Singapore was up 0.6 percent.

Asian markets saw the investors being lured back with the bounce in oil prices. Benchmark Thai share index gained as much as 1.2 percent.

The country's top oil firm PTT and PTT Exploration and Production led the rally with a gain of 2.8 percent and 6.7 percent respectively.

Crude futures extended gains in Asia on Monday following a 10 percent surge at the end of last week on demand triggered by the cold wave in the northern hemisphere.

"The major factor for positive sentiment is surging of oil prices. That lifted large-cap energy and banking sector shares," said Teerada Charnyingyong, analyst, Phillip Capital, Bangkok, Reuters reported.

She said expected stimulus from China, Europe, and Japan also helped boost the sentiment.

Investors are looking up to two key central bank policy events this week, with the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan holding policy meetings. The Fed meeting begins on Tuesday while the BOJ meeting is on Jan. 28-29.

Vietnam surged 3.8 percent , its biggest intra-day climb since March 2012. Philippines jumped 3.6 percent, Jakarta Composite Index was up 1.2 percent, and Kuala Lumpur composite index traded 1.5 percent higher.

This article was first published on January 25, 2016
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