Stocks fell Wednesday on concerns over rising inflation rate and weakening peso on the domestic front and worries about the future of US President Donald Trump’s economy-boosting agenda on the external side.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, shed 7 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 7,324.00, as four of the six major sectors—financials, industrial, property and mining and oil—registered losses.
The heavier index, representing all shares, retreated 6 points, or 0.2 percent, to settle at 4,404.30, on a value turnover of P14.3 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 107 to 79, while 46 issues were unchanged.
Ten of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp. which climbed 3.6 percent to P7.72 and Jollibee Foods Corp. which rose 3 percent to P188. Conglomerate SM Investments Corp. of tycoon Henry Sy gained 2 percent to P694.
Meanwhile, Wall Street scored solid gains Tuesday to snap an eight-day losing streak for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as higher oil prices and a record reading on US consumer confidence boosted sentiment.
The dollar traded at 111.27 yen in early Asian trade, unchanged from New York late Tuesday but higher than the mid-110 yen levels in Asia earlier that day.
A weaker yen helps boost the profitability of exporters and spurs demand for their shares. But investors in Japanese stocks, who often take their cue from US movements, were cautious.
News that the consumer confidence index had hit a 16-year high helped soothe worries that President Donald Trump’s economy-boosting agenda could have been thrown off the rails by the collapse of his healthcare bill owing to splits in his Republican party.
Friday’s debacle over repealing Obamacare hammered world markets on speculation the tycoon would not be able to ram through promised tax cuts and infrastructure spending.
But Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader, noted the US reading “goes a long way to support the notion that the US economy is doing well”.
He added: “It’s not just about the hope of change via president Trump’s policies. It’s about actual improvement in data flow and a real sense that the globe is reflating.”
Hong Kong edged up 0.2 percent in late trade while Tokyo gained 0.1 percent, Sydney closed 0.9 percent higher, Seoul added 0.2 percent and Singapore jumped 0.7 percent. Wellington rallied one percent while Jakarta and Bangkok also advanced.
But Shanghai slipped 0.4 percent. In early European trade London, Paris and Frankfurt each rose 0.4 percent.
Energy firms were among the big winners as an outage in Libya wiped 250,000 barrels a day out of the global market, easing worries about a supply glut, while a US stockpiles reading came in on target.
Both main crude contracts rose more than one percent Tuesday and extended the gains in Asia.
In Hong Kong, CNOOC put on 0.4 percent, while Tokyo-listed Inpex was up more than two percent and Woodside Petroleum in Sydney jumped one percent. With AFP, Bloomberg