The stock market fell Wednesday in listless trading, taking its cue from the rest of the region.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index dropped 68.20 points, or nearly 1 percent, to 7,129.42 on a value turnover of P4.6 billion. Losers beat gainers, 112 to 74, with 45 issues unchanged.
BDO Unibank Inc., the biggest lender in terms of assets, lost 2.8 percent to P199.30, while Security Bank Corp., the sixth-largest, slumped 4.4 percent to P145.
Casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp. declined 3.8 percent to P8.18, while major property developer Ayala Land Inc. fell 3.7 percent to P39.10.
The rest of Asian equities mostly dropped again Wednesday extending the previous day’s geopolitics-fueled sell-off, with energy firms taking another battering in response to an oil market rout.
Investors around the world are fleeing riskier assets such as stocks and high-yielding currencies in search of safety as a wave of negative issues dominate the news.
Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trading at OANDA, pointed to “a toxic geopolitical cocktail of nagging concerns” from Chinese growth, stuttering Brexit talks, Italy’s budget standoff with Brussels and the killing of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Even US stocks—which have been supported in recent months by a strong economy despite sharp losses elsewhere—are feeling the strain, Innes added.
“Significant for global equity investors, the US equities Teflon persona was seriously questioned as price action suggested there is one asset class investors fear: equities,” he warned in a note.
“And like migratory birds heading south for winter, the icy chill enveloping global stock markets has sent investors flocking to safe to haven assets.”
Despite an afternoon bounce, Wall Street’s three main indexes ended with losses following a mixed round of earnings.
In Asia, markets fluctuated throughout the day.
Hong Kong, which dived more than three percent Tuesday, lost 0.5 percent in the afternoon.
Shanghai rose 0.3 percent but the Friday-Monday surge from Chinese officials’ coordinated support has been almost forgotten, while observers said a steady drip of stimulus announcements were also unlikely to provide a long-term solution.
“Recent measures may stabilize the market’s confidence for a while but more fundamental steps are needed,” wrote Vincent Chan and Pearl Xu, strategists at Credit Suisse.
Tokyo ended 0.4 percent higher but Seoul dropped 0.4 percent and Sydney was 0.2 percent lower.
Singapore rose 0.3 percent but Taipei, Wellington, Bangkok, and Jakarta all dropped.
David Kudla, chief executive officer of Mainstay Capital Management, told Bloomberg Television: “We’ve come up upon a tremendous wall of worry for US stocks and stocks around the world. Concern among investors is the deceleration in earnings growth.”
Energy companies were among the worst hit after both main contracts plunged more than four percent Tuesday after Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said the major producer would boost output and spare capacity to help maintain supplies. With AFP