PSEi rises despite new tariff threat
THE stock market recovered from intraday losses on Friday on last-minute buying, ignoring the escalating trade war between the United States and China.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) traded most of the day in the red before gaining momentum to end the day up 0.39 percent or 31.77 points at 8,129.93. The broader All Shares grew by 0.45 percent or 22.05 points to finish at 4,926.56.
At intraday trade, Philstocks Financial Inc. said market players were cautious over the US-China trade war after US President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to slap an additional 10-percent tariff on the remaining $300 billion worth of Chinese goods.
The new tariff was separate from the 25-percent duties already levied earlier this year, the businessman-turned-politican wrote on Twitter.
P2P Trade Online sales associate Gabriel Jose Perez agreed with Philstocks, adding the strength, however, might be too soon to say that the index was out of the woods.
The local market bucked a global decline. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones fell 1.05 percent, the S&P 500 declined 0.90 percent, and the Nasdaq was down by 0.79 percent.
In the region, Tokyo plunged 2.11 percent, Shanghai slid 1.41 percent, Hong Kong fell 2.34 percent, Seoul declined 0.95 percent, Jakarta decreased 0.72 percent, Singapore dropped 0.83 percent and Bangkok was down 1.23 percent.
In Manila, most sectoral results finished firmer except for services, down 0.47 percent.
Volume turnover stood at 1.73 billion, valued at P5.3 billion.
Winners led losers, 129 to 61, while 52 issues were unchanged.