The stock market closed virtually flat Wednesday in nervous trading after US Democrats launched formal impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump and on renewed trade fears as the president adopted a hard line on China.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 2.30 points, or 0.03 percent to 7,896.24 on a value turnover of P5.8 billion. Losers, however, overwhelmed gainers, 145 to 59, with 48 issues unchanged.
Aboitiz Power Corp. rose 2.6 percent to P40, but Universal Robina Corp., the biggest snack food maker, dropped 4.5 percent to P158.60.
Alliance Global Group Inc. of tycoon Andrew Tan fell 4.7 percent to P11.30, while unit Megaworld Corp., the largest developer and lessor of office spaces, slumped 5 percent to P4.72.
In a dramatic move, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry after US markets closed.
Democrats accuse Trump of abuse of power in a reported attempt to pressure the newly-installed president of Ukraine to open a corruption investigation into his lead challenger for the White House, Joe Biden, and Biden’s son Hunter.
Trump denounced the inquiry as “Witch Hunt garbage” and said he would release a transcript of his phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky.
“The impeachment hearing announcement delivered a knock-out blow to stocks markets already weak at the knees,” Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a note.
Concern over US political turmoil added to worries over international trade after Trump ripped into China at the UN, declaring that the time of Beijing’s “abuses” of the system was “over.”
Touting what he argued were the benefits of his tariff war with China, Trump reiterated his hope that a trade agreement “beneficial to both countries” could be struck.
“But as I said very clearly, I will not accept a bad deal for the American people,” he said.
The US political twists and Trump’s uncompromising comments ahead of US-China trade talks next month hit markets.
Tokyo closed down 0.4 percent and Shanghai slipped 1.0 percent while Hong Kong was 1.2 percent lower in afternoon trade.
Seoul fell 1.3 percent, Singapore dropped 0.8 percent, Taiwan gave up 0.4 percent and Mumbai was down 0.7 percent.
Oil prices took a hit, with WTI off 0.9 percent and Brent down 1.1 percent following Trump’s tough talk on China and after data indicating a build up in US crude inventories.
“Oil markets continue to sell as risk sentiment remains sour after Trump accused China of currency manipulation, theft of intellectual property and product dumping,” said Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific market strategist at AxiTrader.
“Mind you this is nothing shockingly new but coming on the cusp of trade negotiations, it doesn’t exactly suggest he’s laying down the welcome mat for the Chinese delegation.”
In currency trading, the pound slipped against the dollar. It had rallied Tuesday following Britain’s Supreme Court ruling that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s suspension of parliament was “unlawful,” providing a spark of hope that Brexit will be more orderly than previously feared. With AFP