The stock market slipped Monday on concerns about rising inflation and expectations that the Monetary Board will raise interest rates in Thursday’s meeting.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 12.91 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,533.28 on a value turnover of P5.9 billion. Losers edged gainers, 92 to 89, with 46 issues unchanged.
SM Investments Corp. of retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr. dropped 1.2 percent to P905, while Security Bank Corp., the sixth-largest lender in terms of assets, declined 2.7 percent to P199.80.
Semirara Mining and Power Corp., the biggest coal miner, tumbled 5.2 percent to P27.65, while LT Group Inc. of tobacco and airline tycoon Lucio Tan, lost 3.6 percent to P21.10.
Most Asia markets, meanwhile, rose Monday following a blistering lead from Wall Street as a soft jobs report soothed concerns about rising US interest rates, while oil prices extended a rally ahead of Donald Trump’s decision on the Iran nuclear deal.
All three main indexes in New York clocked up sizeable gains Friday after the closely watched non-farm payrolls report showed unemployment at an 18-year low—but fewer-than-expected jobs were created in April and average earnings missed estimates.
The figures soothed anxieties that the Federal Reserve could lift borrowing costs four times this year owing to a pick-up in inflation and a strengthening economy. Those worries have acted as a weight on global markets in recent weeks.
Hong Kong was 0.1 percent higher and Shanghai surged 1.5 percent, while Sydney was 0.4 percent up. Wellington, Taipei and Jakarta were well up.
But Tokyo ended marginally lower as traders returned following an extended holiday weekend, while Singapore was 0.2 percent off.
Seoul was closed for a public holiday.
However, there are worries that markets may have plateaued, with strong earnings unable to help push gains further.
“The big surprise from this stellar earnings season is that the market hasn’t broken higher,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader.
“Certainly, the earnings have been there but it seems the narrative was molded by the comments of the Caterpillar (chief financial officer) who said Q1 was likely the high-water mark.
“That he said that is not remarkable. That it resonated with the market is the important point.”
Investors remain on edge on concerns about the China-US trade spat after high-level talks in Beijing last week ended with no agreement between the two sides.
“Whatever optimism investors had about China-US trade negotiations should be undermined by the fact there was no communique, with rumors suggesting the two superpowers are sitting worlds apart after the US failed to win any concessions,” said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trade at OANDA.
“Even the hint of trade war escalation is terrible news for global equities so there is the threat that any contrary Monday morning headline… could dampen stock market sentiment right out of the gates.” With AFP
