KUALA LUMPUR: The Southeast Asian markets fell on Tuesday as energy shares extended losses after crude oil dived to new five-year lows.
However, the bargain-hunting emerged in shares of airlines, which are seen to benefit from the lower oil prices. Oil and gas shares and commodities stocks led top losers on regional indexes, including Malaysia’s Sapurakencana Petroleum, Singapore’s Olam International, Thailand’s PTT and Indonesia’s Indo Tambangraya Megah.
Oil dived 4% to new five-year lows on Monday, as Wall Street expectations of a deeper price slump next year and a Kuwaiti prediction for US$65 crude set off one of the biggest declines this year.
Kuala Lumpur’s composite index hovered around a level last seen in September 2013, while Jakarta’s composite index fell for a second session and the Philippine index eased 0.6%.
Airline stocks outperformed, with Garuda Indonesia climbing for a third session to its highest since May 2013 and and Philippine Cebu Air rallying to its highest since May 2013.
Shares of Singapore Airlines hit their highest since November 2011, climbing 1.6%, adding to a rally of almost 4% over the past five trading days.
