Indonesian, Philippine stocks lead SE Asia markets

Indonesian and Philippine stocks rose on Wednesday, snapping three sessions of losses, while Singapore pared early gains to close marginally lower.

Energy shares, boosted by an overnight rally in oil prices, led gains in three of the six markets in Southeast Asia.

Oil prices jumped 6% on Tuesday on renewed expectations that Opec will agree later this month to reduce a global supply glut, but gave up some of the gains in Wednesday's trade.

Investors are awaiting US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen's remarks before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee on Thursday that could give a hint of how hard and how quickly Republicans may try to overhaul the Fed's powers after Donald Trump's presidential victory.

The outcome of the election may have set off a few tremors in markets but the Fed is on course to raise interest rates next month, a Reuters poll of economists showed. 

"All eyes will be on Yellen speech on Nov 17", Taye Shim, an analyst with Daewoo Securities in Indonesia said in a note. 

Indonesian stocks closed 2.1% higher, posting their biggest intraday percentage gain since Sept 15, led by energy and utility shares.

Indonesian oil and gas producer PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk, ended 4% higher and was among the top gainers in the energy sector.

Philippine stocks closed 1.6% higher, led by financials, with SM Prime Holdings Inc gaining 3.9%.

The Philippines' September remittances were at $2.38 billion, up 6.7% year-on-year, a rise that is helping Philippine markets, said April Lee-Tan at COL Financial Group Inc.