MANILA, June 21 — Philippine shares rose more than one per cent today as investors were upbeat in the light of a clear direction on economic policies, while most other Southeast Asian markets were slightly higher amid growing expectations Britons will vote to remain in the European Union in this week's referendum.

Philippine President-elect Rodrigo Duterte's new economic team yesterday promised sweeping changes to boost infrastructure and maintain the country's robust economic growth. Duterte is to begin his six-year term on June 30.

Investors also await the central bank's policy meeting on Thursday, where the apex bank is expected to keep its key policy rate steady given strong domestic demand and the chance the inflation rate could rise due to weather-related supply shocks, a Reuters poll showed.

Waning concerns around Brexit, along with encouraging outlook towards FDI with the new government, are helping the Philippine market, said Grace Aller of AP Securities in Manila.

The Philippine index was headed for its fifth straight session of gains in what could be the longest streak of daily gains since April, driven by financial stocks.

Meanwhile, Asian shares were trading higher, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.2 per cent, amid declining Brexit concerns.

Bookmakers' odds have shown “Remain” gaining traction in the June 23 referendum, with Betfair putting the implied probability of it at 72 per cent yesterday, up from 60-67 per cent on Friday.

Sentiment was also boosted after a Reuters poll showed confidence at Japanese manufacturers inched up in June from the prior month's three-year low.

Vietnam shares rose, led by consumer stocks. Vietnam Dairy Products, the country's largest firm by market

cap, gained as much as 2.2 per cent, its biggest intraday percentage gain since May 9.

Bucking the trend, Singapore's Straits Times Index fell marginally, with oil and gas stocks shedding nearly one per cent of their market cap on lower crude prices. — Reuters