Asian hours, trading close to its upper limit after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed hope the country was seeing a "levelling off" of the coronavirus crisis. [MKTS/GLOB]

Major European nations reported lower fatality rates, with Italy seeing the number of patients in intensive care falling for the second consecutive day.

London's FTSE was up 3.2% in early trading, Germany's DAX index was 4% higher while Australia's benchmark index rose 4.33%.

Markets appeared to shrug off reports of increasing COVID-19 cases and deaths from the region.

"Financial markets are searching for any slivers of hope, " Jeffrey Halley, market analyst at OANDA wrote in a note.

Leading gains, Vietnamese shares surged 5% to extend a three-session winning streak, pushed by financial and real estate stocks.

The country plans to delay the collection of 180 trillion dong ($7.6 billion) worth of taxes and land rent to help businesses hit by the virus.

Singaporean equities ended over 3% higher, with heavyweight financials United Overseas Bank Ltd and DBS Group Holdings Ltd adding 3.6% and 2.7%, respectively.

The city-state unveiled $3.55 billion in additional economic spending such as wage support, waiver of levies and one-off payments to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

Indonesian stocks advanced more than 4% and hit a three-week high. Financials were the top gainers, with PT Bank Central Asia Tbk climbing 4.4%

The Philippine benchmark closed up 4.2%, with gains in big cap conglomerates SM Investments and Ayala Land boosting the index.

Malaysian shares ended higher as well, after the prime minister announced 10 billion ringgit in additional funds to assist small and medium-sized companies.

Thai markets were closed for a holiday.

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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

STOCK MARKETS

Change on the

day

Market Current Previous Pct Move

close

Singapore 2466.19 2389.29 3.22

Manila 5570.81 5346.97 4.19

Jakarta 4811.827 4623.429 4.07

Kuala Lumpur 1341.69 1330.65 0.83

Ho Chi Minh 736.75 701.8 4.98

Change so far

in 2020

Market Current End 2019 Pct Move

Singapore 2466.19 3222.83 -23.48

Manila 5570.81 7,815.26 -28.72

Jakarta 4811.827 6,299.54 -23.62

Kuala Lumpur 1341.69 1588.76 -15.55

Ho Chi Minh 736.75 960.99 -23.33

(Reporting by Arundhati Dutta; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)

By Arundhati Dutta