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Local shares edged lower Thursday as investors focused on the minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting.
The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 38.13 points, or 0.58 percent, to close at 6,474.26.
China Bank Capital managing director Juan Paolo Colet said investors turned negative after a review of the Fed’s meeting reaffirmed its hawkish stance on US monetary policy.
“Sentiment was also weighed by China’s export curbs on certain metal used in electronics and semiconductors in what is seen as an escalation of its technology trade war with the US and Europe,” Colet said. Colet said investors were looking for new catalysts to drive stock prices, as the deceleration of domestic inflation rate was already priced in by traders.