SINGAPORE (Nikkei Markets) -- Malaysia and Singapore shares rose Wednesday in mixed Asian markets as investors shrugged off geopolitical concerns and bet on banking stocks in a rising interest rate environment.
The FBM KLCI ended 0.5% higher at 1858.26, while the Straits Times Index rose 0.2% to 3533.05 thanks to heavyweight banking stocks. The top three banks in Singapore make up 42% of STI's weighting. In Malaysia, top lenders account for 30% of the KLCI's weighting.