* Coronavirus cases spike in Italy, South Korea
* Malaysia falls to over 8-year low
* Vietnam shares fall as much as 3%
By Soumyajit Saha
Feb 24 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets tumbled on
Monday as a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in South Korea and
Italy stoked fears of a global pandemic, while Malaysia plunged
to a more than eight-year low amid political turmoil.
The selldown cut across currencies, bonds and equities as
investors sought to isolate their assets from the gathering
storm. Markets in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia posted their
biggest intraday drops in a month.
"Markets have been pretty spooked by the secondary
infections that they've seen outside of China ... truly the
notion of China sneezing and everyone catching a cold, that
becomes a real fright for anyone watching this," said Vishnu
Varathan, head of economics at Mizuho Bank in Singapore.
"The sheer explosion of the rate in (South) Korea has been
quite frightening ... there's a sobering realisation that this
could really impact hard and fast".
South Korea raised its infectious disease alert to its
highest level as it reported the total number of infected
patients hitting 763, while Italy sealed off some of its worst
affected towns in its fight to contain what has become the
biggest coronavirus outbreak in Europe. Indonesia stocks .JKSE hit more than nine-month lows,
while the rupiah, which had so far been relatively isolated from
virus worries due to the country's economic independence from
China, was hammered - dropping 1%.
Thai shares .SETI fell to an over three-year low as losses
in the banking and industrial sectors dragged on the benchmark
index.
Vietnam shares .VNI dropped over 3%, hurt by the banking
and real estate sectors.
Consumer and banking stocks weighed on the Malaysian index
.KLSE , with heavyweights Public Bank PUBM.KL and Sime Darby
Plantation Bhd SIPL.KL dropping 3.3% and 2.6% respectively.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's party and other
groups held surprise talks on forming a new government that
would exclude his anointed successor Anwar Ibrahim. "There's some local drama on top of global fears (in
Malaysia). There's every reason to sell and no reason to buy,"
Varathan added.
Philippine stocks .PSI dropped over 2.4% on losses across
all sectors, with real estate and banking stocks weighing the
most on the benchmark.
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS As at 0453 GMT
Change on the day
Market Current Previous close Pct Move
Singapore 3150.93 3181.03 -0.95
Bangkok 1461.1 1495.09 -2.27
Manila 7185.67 7369.78 -2.50
Jakarta 5818.626 5882.255 -1.08
Kuala Lumpur 1492.26 1531.2 -2.54
Ho Chi Minh 908.36 933.09 -2.65
Change so far in 2020
Market Current End 2019 Pct Move
Singapore 3150.93 3222.83 -2.23
Bangkok 1461.1 1579.84 -7.52
Manila 7185.67 7,815.26 -8.06
Jakarta 5818.626 6,299.54 -7.63
Kuala Lumpur 1492.26 1588.76 -6.07
Ho Chi Minh 908.36 960.99 -5.48