Philippine stock market closed lower Friday

MANILA, Philippine – Local stocks tracked the regional market’s decline Friday after US inflation rose at a lower-than-expected rate in July.

The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index fell 43.75 points, or 0.68 percent, to close at 6,405.91, while the broader all-shares index lost 15.19 points to settle at 3,430.19.

“Philippine shares closed lower as traders mulled over July consumer inflation rate and looked ahead to whole prices data,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.

US inflation rate came in at 3.2 percent on an annual basis in July, lower than 3.3 percent forecasted by economists.

Philstocks Financial Inc. research analyst Claire Alviar said the drop in net inflows of foreign direct investment also added to the negative investor sentiment following the disappointing second-quarter gross domestic product growth.

Alviar said the net market value remained weak at P3.58 billion, as many investors opted to remain on the sidelines.