Vietnam's main share index rose for a second day to a three-month high on Tuesday, led higher by financial stocks, while Thailand's SET index eked out slim gains as domestic institutions led buyers. In a rangebound session, Vietnam ended at 401.34, the highest since September 17, and Thailand was up 0.14 percent by 0922 GMT. The Thai index has risen 34.3 percent so far this year, Southeast Asia's best performer.

The Thai bourse expects a number of companies to list on the main SET bourse and the smaller Market for Alternative Investment next year, worth about 120 billion baht ($3.92 billion) in initial public offerings (IPOs), president Charamporn Jotikasthira said. The two bourses saw about 113 billion baht worth of IPOs in 2012, he said.

Among actively traded stocks on Tuesday, Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade gained 3.7 percent in trading volume of 3.2 times the monthly average, while Thai telecoms group Shin Corp Pcl rose 0.7 percent. Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines were closed on Tuesday for the Christmas holiday, reopening on Wednesday.

Copyright Reuters, 2012