The stock market fell slightly in mixed trading Monday in another cautious trading ahead of the State of the Nation Address of President Rodrigo Duterte.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index slipped 22.81 points, or 0.3 percent, to 7,376.80 on a value turnover of P5.1 billion. Gainers, however, edged losers, 92 to 88, with 51 issues unchanged.
Investors were awaiting the SONA speech of President Duterte late in the afternoon before the joint session of Congress for clues. The chief executive is expected to report on the administration’s accomplishments and spell out his economic policies.
PLDT Inc., the biggest telecommunications firm dropped 2 percent to P1,344, while Puregold Price Club Inc. of retail tycoon Lucio Co. declined 2.5 percent to P45.25.
San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc. jumped 12.9 percent to P70 after parent San Miguel Corp. moved closer to consolidating its food and beverage businesses under San Miguel Food. The Bureau of Internal Revenue ruled that the share swap transaction was tax-free.
Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., the largest lender in terms of assets, rallied 4.1 percent to P72.90.
The rest of Asian markets largely lost ground Monday as jitters grew over a potential trade and currency war, with the dollar sliding against most major currencies and extending Friday’s declines.
The fall in the dollar came as US President Donald Trump attacked Washington’s main trading partners for their currency policies on Friday.
“China, the European Union, and others have been manipulating their currencies and interest rates lower, while the US is raising rates while the dollars gets stronger and stronger with each passing day—taking away our big competitive edge. As usual, not a level playing field,” Trump tweeted.
Trump’s combative stance has compounded fears of an all-out trade and currency war, with the US slapping tariffs on steel and aluminum from the EU, Canada, and Mexico, in addition to levies on goods from China worth tens of billions of dollars.
In an interview with US channel CNBC broadcast Friday, Trump threatened to impose taxes on all Chinese imports, saying the US has been “ripped off by China for a long time”.
Tokyo plunged 1.3 percent—falling for a third straight trading day—as a stronger yen hurt exporters, making their products less competitive abroad and eroding repatriated profits.
Hong Kong was flat while Seoul and Sydney slid 0.9 percent. But Shanghai jumped one percent and Jakarta advanced 0.8 percent.
Oil suffered mixed fortunes, with analysts saying concerns about the trade dispute were to blame for the flux in prices.
“The impact of the trade war and the recognition that President Trump and his administration are serious about going to the mat on this issue is finally starting to register in the consciousness of traders and investors in oil and other financial markets,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader.
“That means we are seeing downgrades, in some cases material, to the outlook for global growth and as a consequence the demand for oil,” he added. With AFP