KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — Shares in Allianz Malaysia, the lead insurer of the missing Malaysian Airlines jetliner, extended declines to fall 3.6 per cent today on concerns about the potential impact of insurance claims.

The company is a unit of Germany’s Allianz which has said it is the main provider of insurance on the aircraft and the liabilities attached to the passengers and cargo.

The search for a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner expanded today to cover an area stretching from China to the Andaman Sea, with authorities no closer to explaining what happened to the plane or the 239 people on board.

Shares of Allianz Malaysia have lost 5.4 per cent since the plane went missing on Saturday. Shares in the German parent company have dropped 1 per cent this week.

Shares in Malaysian Airlines were unchanged today. They have fallen 4 per cent this week but have recovered ground from a drop of as much as 18 per cent to a record low on Monday.

By comparison Malaysia’s main stock index was down 0.5 per cent today and has lost 0.8 per cent this week.

Etiqa Insurance and Takaful Bhd, the insurance arm of Maybank, is also an insurer covering Malaysian Airline’s fleet of aircraft, a domestic newspaper has reported. Maybank shares slipped 0.8 per cent today and have lost 2.4 per cent this week.

Local reinsurer MNRB Holdings, which local media has said is one of the reinsurers, fell 1.8 per cent today and has lost 3.8 per cent this week.

Officials for Etiqa and MNRB did not respond to requests for comment.

Malaysia Airports Holdings, the operator of Kuala Lumpur International Airport where the Boeing 777 last took off, saw its shares fall 2.7 per cent today. They have dropped 5.7 per cent this week. — Reuters