Pact delay drags PSEi for 2nd day
THE stock market plunged for a second straight day on worries that an interim trade agreement between the United States and China would not be signed.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 1.002 percent or 79.17 points to finish at 7,818.89, while the wider All Shares slid 0.99 percent or 46.64 points to close at 4,670.76.
“Philippine stocks ended in the red after a report [came out saying] a trade deal might not be completed this year,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said, referring to the so-called phase one of an agreement covering the farming and banking industries.
This comes after US President Donald Trump again threatened to raise levies on Chinese goods if the deal would not be concluded.
Philstocks Financial Inc. agreed, saying in a market note that “[f]ears of a delay in the US-China trade deal plunged the local market, together with its neighboring peers, deeper into the negative territory.”
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all dropped by 0.40 percent, 0.38 percent and 0.51 percent, respectively.
Asian markets mirrored the US bourses decline. Tokyo slid by 0.48 percent, Shanghai slipped by 0.25 percent, Hong Kong plunged by 1.38 percent, Seoul declined by 1.35 percent, Jakarta dipped by 0.56 percent, Singapore lost 0.97 percent, Thailand shed 0.65 percent and Vietnam decreased by 0.50 percent.
In Manila, all sectors ended in the red territory.
Volume turnover stood at 781.11 million shares amounting to P5.72 billion.
Decliners led advancers, 157-38, while 41 issues were unchanged.