* Shanghai markets plunge post Lunar New Year break
* Singapore stocks close at lowest level since Oct. 18, 2019
* Malaysian shares extend losses for tenth straight session
By Shruti Sonal
Feb 3 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stocks fell on Monday,
tracking a steep sell-off in Chinese equities which faced the
brunt of investor worries over a rising death toll from the
coronavirus epidemic on the first day of trade after the Lunar
New Year break.
The number of deaths in China from the newly identified
virus, which emerged in Wuhan city in the central province of
Hubei in December, had risen to 361 as of Sunday, according to
the National Health Commission. The Shanghai Composite index .SSEC shed nearly 9% and lost
as much as $420 billion of its value even as the country's
central bank cut interest rates on reverse repurchase agreements
and pledged to inject $174 billion of liquidity into markets.
L4N2A2069
Leading losses in the region were Singapore shares .STI
which dropped 1.2% to hit lowest since Oct. 18, 2019.
Comfortdelgro Corp Ltd CMDG.SI , which operates in nine
Chinese cities, fell nearly 2% and was among the biggest
percentage loser on the index.
"Sentiment remains very fragile as markets dynamically try
to get a sense of when containment will catch up with
contagion," Vishnu Varathan, a senior economist at Mizuho Bank,
said.
Economic data from China, the region's biggest trading
partner, added to the gloom as factory activity slowed in
January, while annual industrial profit also fell. Vietnam stocks .VNI , which dropped as much as 4.8% during
the day, pared some losses to end 0.9% lower.
Vietjet Aviation JSC VJC.HM plunged 7% after Vietnam
briefly halted all flights to and from China including Hong
Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Philippines, which reported the first fatality related to
the virus outside mainland China, saw its benchmark index .PSI
fall 0.9%. InFWN2A01EZ
Financials were the biggest drag on the index, with Security
Bank Corp SECB.PS hitting its lowest since July 2019.
Malaysian equities .KLSE extended losses for a tenth
straight session.
Palm oil producing firms Sime Darby Bhd SIME.KL and Hap
Seng Consolidated Bhd HAPS.KL fell nearly 2.4% each after
India raised the import tax on crude palm oil to 44% from 37.5%
on Saturday. Indonesian .JKSE shares fell nearly 1%, weighed down by
consumer and communication stocks. The country is slated to
report fourth-quarter GDP figures on Wednesday at 0400 GMT.
A Reuters poll showed growth in Southeast Asia's largest
economy probably edged up in the final quarter of last year, but
full-year growth could slow for the first time in four years.
Asian Companies click;
SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3116.31 3153.73 -1.19
Bangkok 1496.06 1514.14 -1.19
Manila 7137.03 7200.79 -0.89
Jakarta 5884.17 5940.048 -0.94
Kuala Lumpur 1521.95 1531.06 -0.60
Ho Chi Minh 928.14 936.62 -0.91
Change so far in 2020
Market Current End 2019 Pct Move
Singapore 3116.31 3222.83 -3.31
Bangkok 1496.06 1579.84 -5.30
Manila 7137.03 7,815.26 -8.68
Jakarta 5884.17 6,299.54 -6.59
Kuala Lumpur 1521.95 1588.76 -4.21
Ho Chi Minh 928.14 960.99 -3.42