SINGAPORE, Feb 23 — Most South-east Asian stock markets rose today as investors responded with cheer after two Federal Reserve officials allayed concerns that the US central bank would intensify the pace of interest rate hikes this year.

St Louis Fed President James Bullard said yesterday that policymakers need to be careful not to increase rates too quickly as that could slow the economy, while Dallas counterpart Robert Kaplan said three rate increases in 2018 was a "reasonable” base case.

Two of the major indexes on Wall Street firmed overnight, following a downbeat performance the previous day after minutes of the Fed's last policy meeting showed inflation would perk up, setting the stage for additional rate hikes.

Asia shares ex-Japan climbed over 1 per cent.

In South-east Asia, Singapore shares rose as much as 1.1 per cent to a three-week top ahead of the release of inflation data.

Financials accounted for most of the gains on the index, with Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp climbing 2.1 per cent to an all-time high.

The index is on track for its best week since early January.

Indonesia snapped three sessions of losses to rise as much as 1 per cent, with Bank Central Asia up as much as 2.4 per cent and conglomerate Astra International gaining 3.1 per cent.

An index of the country's 45 most liquid stocks rose as much as 1.1 per cent.

Firmer oil prices have also contributed to the brighter outlook for regional markets, said Taye Shim, head of research at Mirae Asset Sekuritas.

"It is a commodities driven story and Indonesia is one of the key beneficiaries of commodity price recovery, which we believe is likely to continue as long as the dollar maintains its course.”

Thai shares were up as much as 0.4 per cent, led by banks, telecom and materials stocks.

The Philippine index, however, fell as much as 0.6 per cent, and is set to finish the week about 1.4 per cent lower. — Reuters