The stock market retreated Thursday on profit-taking and in step with losses in Asia.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 63.50 points, or 0.8 percent, to 7,387.87 on a value turnover of P3.7 billion. Losers overwhelmed gainers, 117 to 72, with 46 issues unchanged.
Conglomerate Ayala Corp. lost 3 percent to P950, while GT Capital Holdings Inc. of tycoon George Ty slumped 4.1 percent to P929.
Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is into toll roads, water and electricity distribution, power generation and hospitals, declined 3.5 percent to P4.44, while SSI Group Inc., the biggest specialty store retailer, tumbled 6.1 percent to P1.86.
The rest of Asian markets mostly fell Thursday, as the US Federal Reserve chief’s upbeat assessment of the economy failed to allay concerns about a global trade war.
In his second day of congressional testimony on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell expressed optimism over the US economy.
But he warned that the spiraling global trade row was having a negative impact on companies in the US.
“We hear from our extensive network of business contacts a rising chorus of concerns,” he said.
US President Donald Trump has imposed steep tariffs on products from China worth tens of billions of dollars and has threatened to target hundreds of billions more, on top of import taxes on steel and aluminum that have angered allies such as the EU.
“Powell was pretty straightforward on the risks from the trade policy uncertainty though he tried to stay out of the political debate,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader.
The Fed chief said US businesses were already being hurt by reciprocal tariffs on key products, pointing out: “The bottom line is a more protectionist economy is less competitive, less productive.”
However, he also said that if Trump’s trade policy resulted in lower tariffs, that would be good for the US economy.
Hong Kong closed down 0.4 percent while Shanghai was 0.5 percent lower. Seoul fell 0.3 percent and Tokyo edged down 0.1 percent, snapping a four-day winning streak.
“Profit-taking emerged after four days of gains,” said Hikaru Sato, senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.
“But the decline was limited due to a weak yen and gains in US shares,” Sato told AFP.
Sydney gained 0.3 percent while Singapore rose one percent.
In a sign of worsening tensions over the trade dispute, a senior economic adviser to Trump attacked Chinese President Xi Jinping for blocking an agreement to resolve the issue.
“I think Xi is holding the game up,” said Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council. “I don’t think President Xi has any intention of following through on the discussions we’ve made.”
Oil reversed minor gains made earlier on the back of data from the US Department of Energy which showed a fall in distillate stockpiles, including gasoline.
“The gasoline numbers were marginally optimistic enough to raise supply concerns,” said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trading at Oanda trading group. With AFP