Malaysian shares fell to a near one-month low on Monday amid heavy selling in Malaysian Airline stocks after a Boeing 777 operated by the airline went missing over the weekend while most markets eased as weak Chinese data dented sentiment. Malaysia's main stock index closed down 0.6 percent at 1,822.06, its lowest close since February 14. Malaysian Airline System shares ended 4 percent lower, losing 18 percent at one point to a record low of 0.205 ringgit.
About 385 million shares changed hands in the session, 9.15 times the full-day average over the past 30 sessions. Other aviation-related shares were also weaker. Shares of Malaysia Airports Holdings were down 1.7 percent. Singapore's key index fell 0.3 percent after four sessions of gains. Property shares such as CapitaLand were among the losers amid expectations about slowing property demand, according to a local broker.
Investors trimmed holding in commodities and coal mining shares such as Indonesia's Adaro Energy and Thailand's Banpu after weekend data showed China's exports unexpectedly tumbled in February. The Thai SET index fell 0.4 percent while Indonesia's main index eased 0.2 percent amid caution ahead of the central bank's interest rate reviews later in the week. Bank Indonesia was expected to hold its benchmark reference rate unchanged at 7.5 percent at a policy meeting on Thursday. The Bank of Thailand's monetary policy committee is expected to cut the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2 percent in a meeting on Wednesday to help the economy cope with prolonged political unrest in Bangkok.
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