Singapore's financial sector was boosted by its biggest lender by market-cap, DBS Group Holdings, which climbed as much as 1.7 per cent. — TODAY pic

SINGAPORE, Jan 24 — Most South-east Asian stock markets eked out gains on today, as investors weighed the possible effects of US President Donald Trump formally withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal.

Fulfilling a campaign pledge, Trump signed an executive order pulling the US out of the 12-nation TPP, distancing it from its Asian allies, even as China's influence in the region rises.

"South-east Asian markets are mostly still up. Everybody is still trying to digest the actual effects of the withdrawal,” said Theodore Tan, broker and analyst with AP Securities.

Trump, who wants to boost US manufacturing, said he would like to cut corporate taxes, but warned American manufacturers of penalties if they moved production outside the country.

"Of course, Trump wants to sound good to the American people on his first day and it has always been his stance to 'put America first,' but it won't be that easy to penalise companies for building outside America,” Tan added.

Singapore rose as much as 0.5 per cent, hitting a 14-month high, with financials accounting for more than half of the gains.

The financial sector was boosted by the city state's biggest lender by market-cap, DBS Group Holdings, which climbed as much as 1.7 per cent to touch a 17-month high.

Singapore's all-items consumer price index (CPI) in December rose 0.2 per cent from a year earlier, official data showed yesterday. The consumer price index rose for the first time in more than two years, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream.

In other markets, Vietnam edged higher, rising as much as 0.6 per cent to hit a 16-week high, driven by gains in financials and utilities.

Oil and gas refiner PetroVietnam Gas jumped as much as 3.3 per cent, its biggest intra-day percentage gain in more than a month.

Indonesia rose more than half a per cent with financials and telecom stocks leading the gains.

Bucking the trend, the Philippines was back in the red, after closing at a near three-month high yesterday. Conglomerate Ayala Land was the biggest drag on the benchmark, sliding as much as 3.3 per cent. — Reuters