SE Asia Stocks-Mostly rebound, Malaysia at 1-week high
* Fed rate meeting keeps investors wary, trading thin
* Upbeat outlook in banks boosts Malaysia, Singapore
* Buying back of energy shares pushes Thailand up 2.7 pct
By Arada Kultawanich
BANGKOK, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian markets rose on Wednesday, recovering from losses the previous session, with banks and palm oil stocks leading gains in Malaysia, pushing the market to its highest in a week.
Overall trading was light as investors remained cautious before a U.S. Federal Reserve statement on interest rates and the economy later on Wednesday.
"However, some investors are daring to snap up stocks to bet the Fed will keep its rate unchanged ... and that helped trigger a rebound in Asian markets broadly," said Rakpong Chaisuparakul, an analyst at KGI Securities in Bangkok.
The Fed is expected to reaffirm at the end of its two-day meeting that policies to support the economy will stay in place for some time, despite mounting signs of recovery. [ID:nFEDAHEAD]
Malaysia's index ended up 0.93 percent, Singapore's index .FTSTI, after falling two days in a row, bounced back 1.03 percent, Thai stocks .SETI climbed 2.68 percent and Indonesia .JKSE edged up 1.62 percent.
But the Philippine market .PSI closed flat and Vietnam .VNI ended down 0.39 percent at its lowest close since Sept. 9.
At 0915 GMT, Dow Jones futures DJc1 were up 0.49 percent and the MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 1.73 percent.
Gains in Malaysia were driven by top palm planter Sime Darby (SIME.KL: Quote, Profile, Research), the largest stock on the bourse by market value, which rose 0.7 percent to a one-week high after an upbeat price forecast by industry analyst Oil World. [ID:nL381260]
Malaysian banks rose on hopes that earnings will get a boost next year when the economy recovers, with top lender Maybank (MBBM.KL: Quote, Profile, Research) up 1.5 percent, number two CIMB (CIMB.KL: Quote, Profile, Research) adding 0.64 percent and third-ranked Public Bank (PUBM.KL: Quote, Profile, Research) up 0.93 percent.
Similarly in Singapore, United Overseas Bank (UOBH.SI: Quote, Profile, Research) rose 1.5 percent, number two Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC.SI: Quote, Profile, Research) gained 1.7 percent and DBS (DBSM.SI: Quote, Profile, Research), Southeast Asia's biggest lender, added 0.62 percent.
In Bangkok, heavyweight energy stocks recovered, with shares in PTT Exploration and Production adding 3.5 percent to 134.50 baht, rebounding from a four-month low of 128 baht on Tuesday after the firm said it had plugged an oil well in the Timor Sea that had leaked for over two months. [ID:nSYD410182]
Top energy firm PTT PTT.BK, the parent of PTTEP, ended up 3.51 percent after hitting a four-month low on Tuesday.
In Indonesia, shares in miner PT Aneka Tambang (ANTM.JK: Quote, Profile, Research) jumped as much as 9 percent on media reports it may head a consortium to buy some of Newmont Mining Corp's (NEM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) shares in its Indonesian venture. [ID:nJAK533872] ($1=33.42 Baht) (Editing by Alan Raybould)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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