Most Southeast Asian stock markets rebounded on Monday, with Malaysia rising from a 4-1/2-month closing low while Manila saw strong foreign fund inflows as easing Ukraine tensions helped boost investor appetite for risky assets. Malaysia's main stock index closed up 0.5 percent, recovering from its lowest close since March 26, led by financials.
Shares of Malaysia Airline System (MAS) closed up 8.3 percent, having earlier surged 10.4 percent from a near two-month low, after state fund Khazanah Nasional said it will offer 27 sen for each share in the company it does not own, amounting to nearly 1.4 billion ringgit ($435 million) to take the troubled airline private.
Foreign investors bought a net $95 million worth of shares in the Philippine stock market, which ended 1.1 percent higher, recovering from its lowest close since July 31, while Singapore ended up 0.5 percent from a one-month low. Analysts said the recovery was a technical rebound after a decline due to worries over geopolitical tensions.
The Jakarta Composite Index rose 1.2 percent from a near one-month closing low, but analysts said the index may fall during the week on expected worsening of current account deficit in the second quarter, for which data is scheduled to be released on Friday, and talks over cutting fuel subsidy. Underperforming the market, Indonesia's biggest coal miner PT Bumi Resources Tbk fell 5.7 percent after it said it intends to pay the 9.25 percent interest on its $375 million debt by Tuesday, while seeking to extend the payment of the principal of the convertible bonds to April 2018. Bucking the trend, the Vietnam index fell 0.6 percent due to a fall in shares of large cap companies. The Thailand market was closed for a public holiday.