The consumer price index likely rose 0.4 percent in December from a year earlier, a Reuters poll showed, slightly faster than the previous month. The benchmark stock index snapped three straight sessions of gains and closed 0.8 percent lower, weighed down by the material and financial sectors.
Shares of Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd dropped 6.1 percent, while those of CIMB group Holdings Bhd fell 1.9 percent. Among other losers, Singapore dropped 0.7 percent after data showed inflation rose more than expected in December.
Financials and industrials were among the top losers with DBS Group Holdings Ltd shedding 1.6 percent and Hutchison Port Holdings Trust dipping 2 percent. Philippine shares erased most of earlier losses to close slightly lower ahead of fourth-quarter GDP data.
A Reuters poll of 12 economists predicts the gross domestic product for the December quarter to have expanded by 6.2 percent from a year earlier, marginally up from July-September's 6.1 percent, a three-year low. Financial and consumer discretionary stocks were among the top losers with Jollibee Foods Corp declining 2.5 percent and Bank of the Philippine Islands shedding 2.1 percent. Thai shares closed higher for a sixth straight session, buoyed by financials and telecoms. Airports of Thailand Pcl rose 1.5 percent, while Siam Commercial Bank Pcl jumped 2.4 percent.