However, most of these markets pared some of their earlier gains. "The lift in risk sentiment appears mitigated by the concern that the latest positive developments surrounding these macro events (US-China trade conflict, Brexit) may prove fleeting and do not yet fully nullify these downside risks," Han Tan, Market Analyst at FXTM said in a report.
Philippine stocks rose as investor hopes of a third rate cut for the year were cemented by weak August inflation data. The country's consumer price index rose 1.7% in August from a year earlier, the weakest pace in nearly three years.
Shares of casino operator Bloomberry resorts Corp rose to an over two-week high after President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday that he was unwilling to ban gambling, as China has called for, because of the harm that would do to the country's economy. Thai stocks jumped 0.7% to a near one-month closing high, with energy stocks contributing most of the gains.
Thailand's main stock exchange signed an agreement to develop an energy trading platform as part of a plan to become Southeast Asia's electricity trading hub.
Shares of PTT PCL and PTT Exploration and Production PCL gained 1.2% and 3.4%, respectively. Indonesian stocks gained 0.6% on the back of consumer and financial stocks, with Astra International Tbk Pt and Unilever Indonesia Tbk Pt rising 3.1% and 1%, respectively.
Singapore stocks gained for the third consecutive session, with industrials boosting gains. Jardine Strategic Holdings Ltd and Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd gained 4.3% and 1%, respectively. Meanwhile, Malaysian and Vietnam stocks dipped marginally.