SINGAPORE: Southeast Asian stock markets extended falls on Monday, with Vietnam declining 2.5 percent and Singapore shedding over 1 percent, on continued fears of a global trade war.
Last week, US President Donald Trump proposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminium, a pledge that met with warnings of retaliation from the rest of the world over the weekend.
Vietnam shares rose as much as 1 percent to their highest since March 2007 before reversing their course.
They fell due to "some concerns of margin availability" and a correction catchup after they bucked the downward trend seen last week in most markets of the region, said Fiachra Mac Cana, head of research at Ho Chi Minh Securities.
The index logged a gain of 1.7 percent last week.
Joint Stock Commercial Bank For Foreign Trade Of Viet Nam and Petrovietnam Gas were the biggest drags, down 5.3 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively.
Singapore shares dropped for a fifth straight session and posted their lowest close since Feb. 14. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was the worst performer with a plunge of 5.7 percent.
Among other losers, lender DBS Group fell 1.4 percent, while Keppel Corp declined over 3 percent.
Philippine shares closed 0.9 percent lower in thin trade, with Manila Electric being the worst performer with a decline of 2.8 percent. SM Investments fell 1.9 percent.
Malaysian stocks finished the session down 0.7 percent, even after data showed exports surged 17.9 percent in January and beat expectations of an 11.4 percent rise.
Shares of aluminium trader Press Metal Aluminium Holdings were the biggest drag with a plunge of 9.1 percent.
Indonesia stocks fell to their lowest close in three weeks, while Thai shares declined for the fourth straight session.
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