Philippine stocks lead Southeast Asia markets

The Philippine index rose about 1% on industrials, while other Southeast Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday.

In Asian stock markets, moves were mostly minor, with Japan closed for a holiday. US stocks were little changed on Wednesday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Philippine shares rose, with index heavyweight SM Investments Corp up 1.5% and Aboitiz Equity Ventures gaining 4.4%.

"The infrastructure programme of the government and the investment climate of the country is improving," said a Manila-based analyst, who did not want to be named.

The Philippine tax reform bill, aimed at generating revenue to fund a multi-billion dollar infrastructure programne, is awaiting Senate approval. 

Singapore shares closed down 0.3%, with lenders OCBC falling 0.3% and DBS Group Holdings declining 0.9%. Thai Beverage dropped 1.6%.

"What we are seeing today...is that it (the index) is just taking a breather," said Wong Kok Hoong, sales trader at Maybank Kim Eng Securities.

The city-state's economy grew at its fastest pace in nearly four years in the third-quarter, thanks to a boom in manufacturing that some analysts say will encourage tighter monetary policy in 2018.

Singapore and other trade-reliant economies in Asia have received a boost this year from an improvement in global demand, with Thailand and the Philippines also reporting better-than-expected economic growth figures.

Vietnam closed 0.1% higher, after earlier rising as much as 1% to a fresh near-decade peak.

Real estate firm Vingroup JSC gained 0.7%, while Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade jumped 4.6%.

Indonesian stocks edged lower, with an index of the country's 45 most liquid stocks ending little changed.