SE Asia stocks fall on foreign fund outflows

Most Southeast Asian stock markets ended lower on Wednesday on foreign fund outflows ahead of the release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve's September meeting.

The Fed minutes due later in day may bolster views of a December rate hike and provide clues on the pace of US monetary policy tightening.

"There has been some selling pressure from foreign funds in the Asian markets since last month, attributed to the winding of the balance sheet of the Fed and in anticipation of a Fed rate hike by December," said Manny Cruz, an analyst with Asiasec Equities.

"It seems that there has been some realignment or adjustments on the exposure of foreign funds on the Asian markets."

Philippine shares came off an all-time high to close 0.5% lower as consumer staples and industrial stocks slipped. Robinsons Retail Holdings fell to a more than two-week closing low, while LT Group declined 5.2%. 

Indonesian shares fell 0.4% to a near two-week closing low, hurt by declines in telecom stocks.

Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Persero) dropped for the third straight session, shedding 2.9%, while XL Axiata declined 4.7% to its lowest close since late August.

The index of the country's 45 most liquid stocks fell 0.6%.

Singapore shares shed 0.3%, hurt by losses in financials, with DBS Group Holdings and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp off 0.7% and 0.9% respectively.

Vietnam shares jumped to a more than nine-and-a-half-year high in their fourth straight session of gains, with realtor Vingroup JSC rising 5.2% to its highest ever close.