Fed chief Jerome Powell seemed to lay ground for a rate cut later this month as he noted the effect of the Sino-U.S. trade war on the economy, pledging to "act appropriately" to counter a slowdown.
Market participants now await U.S. inflation figures for June due out later in the day, to better gauge the extent of the rate cut.
"We are now beyond the realm of a 25 bp cut, the market's pricing in about 65% chance of a 50 bp cut at the July FOMC meeting heading into tonight's key US CPI print," Stephen Innes, managing partner at Vanguard Markets Ltd, said in a note.
Philippine shares <.PSI> advanced for a second straight session, helped by real estate and banking stocks.
Property developer SM Prime Holdings Inc rose 1.8%, while lender BDO Unibank Inc was up 1.9%.
Singapore shares <.STI> rose on the back of financials. Lenders DBS Group Holdings Ltd and United Overseas Bank Ltd ended 0.8% and 0.1% higher, respectively.
Vietnam shares <.VNI> advanced to a seven-week closing high, helped by financial and energy stocks.
Lender Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam climbed 3.2%, while oil explorer Vietnam National Petroleum Group rose 0.9%.
Indonesian shares <.JKSE> edged higher, aided by financials, while Malaysia <.KLSE> and Thai stocks closed little changed.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3350.45 3340.42 0.30
Bangkok 1740.45 1739.43 0.06
Manila 8154.49 8078.21 0.94
Jakarta 6417.066 6410.683 0.10
Kuala Lumpur 1679.26 1678.97 0.02
Ho Chi Minh 978.63 973.65 0.51
Change so far in 2019
Market Current End 2018 Pct Move
Singapore 3350.45 3068.76 9.18
Bangkok 1740.45 1563.88 11.29
Manila 8154.49 7,466.02 9.22
Jakarta 6417.066 6,194.50 3.59
Kuala Lumpur 1679.26 1690.58 -0.67
Ho Chi Minh 978.63 892.54 9.65
(Reporting by Soumyajit Saha; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
By Soumyajit Saha
