Southeast Asian stock markets traded mixed on Monday with Malaysia posting losses on weak corporate earnings and Philippine stocks extending gains from the previous session.
The Malaysian stock index was down 0.24 per cent, its lowest closing level since January 14.
Telecommunication company Telekom Malaysia Bhd was the biggest loser, down 4 per cent and its worst single-day fall since March 2014 after the company posted a 39 per cent decline in net profit for the first quarter.
Meanwhile, stocks in Indonesia narrowed losses despite rising inflation in May. The Jakarta index fell as much as 0.6 per cent before closing 0.05 per cent lower ahead of a public holiday on Tuesday.
Indonesia reported 7.15 per cent inflation in May from a year earlier, up from 6.79 per cent in April and slightly higher than the 7 per cent expected by economists surveyed by Reuters.
The Philippine index rose 1.2 per cent on Monday, extending its 1 per cent gain in the previous session after touching the lowest level in more than four months last week.
Stocks of lender Rizal Commercial Banking Corp rose 3.1 per cent. Rizal Commercial, along with two other Philippine banks, said they were considering bids for the government’s majority stake in unlisted, medium-sized lender United Coconut Planters Bank for an estimated minimum of 16.1 billion pesos ($360 million).
Markets in Singapore and Thailand were closed for a holiday on Monday and will reopen for trading on Tuesday.