By Shreya Mariam Job

(Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets climbed on Monday as investors hoped for a resolution to the drawn-out Sino-U.S. trade dispute after both sides offered optimism following the Beijing talks, while Singaporean shares rose on the back of upbeat earnings.

U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking at a White House news conference, said the United States was closer than ever before to "having a real trade deal" with China, and said he would be "honored" to remove tariffs if an agreement can be reached.

Singapore shares gained as much as 1 percent to their highest since August 2018 on the back of solid earnings by index heavyweight DBS Group Holdings Ltd.

Southeast Asia's biggest lender DBS Group hit a nearly one-month high after posting a record annual profit and an 8 percent rise in quarterly profit.

The index gained further as investors shrugged off a bigger-than-expected decline in January non-oil domestic exports.

Investors were also expecting certain supportive policies from the budget statement due later in the session.

"As 2018 fourth-quarter GDP growth had slowed to just 1.9 percent year-on-year and the MTI (Ministry of Trade and Industry) said 2019 growth could come in slightly below the midpoint of its 1.5 percent-3.5 percent forecast, market expectations for a larger fiscal boost could be somewhat heightened," a note from OCBC said.

DBS' upbeat results helped lift other banking stocks, with Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and United Overseas Bank rising as much as 1.7 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

Philippine shares, which led the gains in the regional markets, were boosted by industrial stocks. JG Summit Holdings Inc firmed as much as 5.1 percent, while SM Investment Corp strengthened up to 0.6 percent.

Underpinned by energy and financial stocks, Thai shares rebounded from previous session's losses to edge 0.2 percent higher.

Southeast Asia's second-largest economy's grew slightly more than expected in the fourth quarter, expanding 0.8 percent from the previous quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis compared with 0.6 percent as seen in a Reuters poll.

Financial and consumer stocks pushed the Indonesian benchmark over 1 percent higher, with the index of the country's 45 most liquid stocks rising 1.6 percent.

Meanwhile, Malaysian stocks and Vietnam shares traded largely flat.

(Reporting by Shreya Mariam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)