Stocks declined Friday, pulled down by mining shares, after the Environment Department threatened to shut down more mining companies for alleged environmental violations.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, shed 25 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 7,955.86. Despite Friday’s loss, the bellwether was still up 14.4 percent since the start of the year.
The heavier index, representing all shares, also lost 19 points, or 0.4 percent, to settle at 4,722.82, on a value turnover of P10.1 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 116 to 78, while 40 issues were unchanged.
Nine of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by PhilWeb Corp. which rebounded 38.2 percent to P8.80, after chairman Roberto Ongpin announced his plan to resign and divest from the company.
Port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. jumped 10.2 percent to P74.90, while Megawide Construction Corp. added 6.8 percent to P13.76. Bloomberry Resorts Corp. climbed 3.9 percent to P6.19.
Semirara Mining and Power Corp. was the biggest loser among the most active stocks, as it tumbled 7.5 percent to P100.80, after Environment Secretary Regina Lopez warned the company might lose its permit to operate a coal mine.
Other mining companies such as Nickel Asia Corp. and Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. ended in the red.
Meanwhile, a strong lead from Wall Street gave Asian stock markets a lift Friday, after all three major US indices vaulted to new records as the oil price rebounded.
Markets were up even as economic data from China missed expectations—a disappointing sign for growth in the world’s second largest economy.
The three-way record in the US, last seen among the leading indices in 1999, came amid strong gains in petroleum-linked shares and retailers, while European stocks also pushed higher thanks to accommodative central bank policies lending continued support to equities.
Among the performers was China’s New York-listed e-commerce behemoth Alibaba, which reported sales of 32.15 billion yuan ($4.83 billion), 59 percent higher than the level a year ago and above analyst expectations.
Oil prices were buoyed by a Saudi Arabian minister’s comments that crude producers may take action to rebalance the market, and extended their gains in Asian trade.
“Asia Pacific markets are set to finish the week on a high following strong leads from European and US investors,” Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, said in an email commentary.
“Industrial commodities rose, led by oil, and overnight trading displayed ‘risk on’ characteristics despite the lack of an obvious trigger.”
Tokyo was up 0.7 percent, having been closed Thursday for a national holiday, while Sydney gained 0.3 percent.
Taipei and Bangkok also traded higher.
Shanghai rose 0.2 percent and Hong Kong advanced 0.6 percent, even as China data disappointed.
Government figures released Friday showed that retail sales in the Asian powerhouse rose 10.2 percent year-on-year in July, a sharp slowdown from the 10.6 percent increase in June and below the median forecast of a 10.5 percent rise in a Bloomberg News poll of economists.
Also missing expectations was factory output, which increased 6.0 percent in July over the year before, and fixed asset investment, a gauge of infrastructure spending, which rose 8.1 percent in the first seven months of the year.
Industrial output had been expected to show 6.2 percent growth and FAI 8.9 percent growth.
“Though the economic data are weak, they are still within an acceptable range to investors,” Wang Zheng, the Shanghai-based chief investment officer at Jingxi Investment Management Co told Bloomberg News.
The National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement China’s economy was “basically steady” in July but that “serious disasters” from flooding and high temperatures in some parts of the country caused some indicators to slow.
With AFP, Bloomberg