The stock market closed nearly flat Friday in thin trading as investors continued to consolidate their holdings.
The Philippine Stock Exchange slipped 5.02 points, or 0.1 percent, to 7,647.51 on a value turnover of P5.1 billion. Gainers edged losers, 95 to 92, with 56 issues unchanged.
Now Corp., which is bidding to become the third major telecommunications firm in the Philippines, lost 5.6 percent to P10.74 on profit-taking, while Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is into toll roads, water and electricity distribution, power generation and hospitals, fell 1.4 percent to P4.77.
Security Bank Corp., the sixth-biggest lender in terms of assets, dropped 4 percent to P192, while Bank of the Philippine Islands, the third-largest lender, declined 2 percent to P97.
The Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Thursday reduced again the reserve requirement ratio of banks by one percentage point to 18 percent from 19 percent to free up more liquidity into the market. The move is expected to weaken the peso further against the US dollar.
Asian markets, meanwhile, mostly fell on Friday as Donald Trump shocked the world by pulling out of next month’s historic summit with Kim Jong Un, though analysts said the losses were tempered by hopes the talks can be rekindled.
Traders had already been nervous in recent days after the US president warned he could pull out of the June 12 meeting with the North Korean leader, while also voicing his displeasure at a deal to avert a trade war with China and threaten tariffs on car imports.
The news Thursday took many by surprise”•including North and South Korean officials –and fueled concerns about the future of a rapprochement that has had many hoping for peace on the divided peninsula.
In a letter released by the White House, Trump told Kim he was canceling the summit because of North Korea’s “anger” and “hostility.” The message came after a key aide to Kim hit out at comments from Vice President Mike Pence, saying they were “ignorant and stupid” and warning the talks could be cancelled.
However, Trump’s letter added that the talks could still go ahead “at a later date”.
For its part, Pyongyang said the decision “unexpected” and “regrettable” but added: “We again state to the US our willingness to sit face-to-face at any time in any form to resolve the problem”.
“It looks like we are back to fire and fury as the modus operandi for the White House again after President Trump (threatened) a new 25 percent car import tariff and canceled the summit with North Korea,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader.
“Not only was the summit cancelled but it was back to threatening the DPRK with a military response.”
Wall Street ended lower, while Asian trading was muted. Tokyo ended slightly higher, while Hong Kong slipped 0.5 percent and Shanghai shed 0.4 percent. Sydney and Singapore each fell 0.1 percent while Seoul was 0.2 percent lower.
Kuala Lumpur also fell but Wellington, Taipei and Jakarta were in positive territory.
While warning the issue remained fragile, analysts said there was still hope the meeting will go ahead.