The stock market fell Friday in mixed trading, with dealers ignoring better-than-expected US economic growth data.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index lost 20.87 points, or 0.3 percent, to 7,311.72 on a value turnover of P9.18 billion. Gainers, however, beat losers, 102 to 86, with 42 issues unchanged.
GT Capital Holdings Inc. of tycoon George Ty declined 2.7 percent to P1,145, while major property developer Ayala Land Inc. dropped 2.4 percent to P33.05.
Wilcon Depot Inc. debuted in the stock market, gaining 5.5 percent to P5.33 from its initial public offering price of P5.05.
Bloomberry Resorts Corp. of port tycoon Enrique Razon Jr. rose 2.7 percent to P7.95, while sister company International Container Terminal Services Inc., the biggest port operator, rallied 2.2 percent to P89.90.
Wall Street, meanwhile, cheered news that growth hit 2.1 percent in the last three months of 2016, which was 0.2 point better than first thought, with crucial consumer spending seeing a strong increase.
The result provided some much-needed support to markets after Donald Trump’s failure last week to push through his healthcare bill stoked fears he would have trouble with his promised tax-cut and spending promises—a key driver of a global rally since November.
“It’s only a small upgrade but the marginal increase… seemed to have an outsized impact on sentiment,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader.
“That and the fact that the consumption component was upgraded seem to have been the key to reinforcing the strength of the US economy. We haven’t really seen any US data printing worse than expected for some months now. But for the moment the economy is supporting stocks in the US.”
But while Wall Street enjoyed advances, Asian investors were not so impressed and positioned themselves as they closed their books before the end of the quarter.
Tokyo closed 0.8 percent lower as the yen reversed early losses against the dollar, while Hong Kong slipped 0.7 percent in the afternoon.
Seoul closed 0.2 percent down and Sydney was off 0.5 percent, while Taipei, Jakarta and Bangkok were all off.
Shanghai edged up 0.4 percent, rebounding from early losses, following a forecast-beating reading on Chinese factory activity.
In early European trade London fell 0.4 percent, Frankfurt shed 0.3 percent and Paris eased 0.2 percent.
“The market continues to be devoid of a clear direction,” Yoshihiro Okumura, general manager at Chibagin Asset Management, told Bloomberg News. “It’s up one day, down the other on overseas factors. Economic data, hopes over corporate earnings is a plus but politics remains a minus factor, which will likely be the case for the new quarter.”
The dollar surged five percent against the rand after South African President Jacob Zuma sacked finance minister Pravin Gordhan, who had enjoyed the support of many international investors and had campaigned for budget discipline. With AFP
