The stock market retreated Thursday along with the rest of Asia on profit taking and after Wall Street suffered one of its worst batterings in two years.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 67.55 points, or 1 percent, to 6,660.05 on a value turnover of P8 billion. Losers beat gainers, 105 to 79, with 36 issues unchanged.
SM Investments Corp. of the Sy Group dropped 3.6 percent to P839, while major property developer Ayala Land Inc. of the Ayala Group declined 3 percent to P27.95.
Noodles maker Monde Nissin Corp., however, advanced 5.1 percent to P15.70, while BDO Unibank Inc., the biggest lender in terms of assets rose 3.8 percent to P131.80.
Markets in Europe and Asia also posted losses Thursday.
Downcast earnings reports from retailers had exacerbated worries about consumer resilience and corporate profitability Wednesday, sparking a rough day’s trade.
Hong Kong slumped 2.5 percent, while Tokyo closed down by 1.89 percent.
Among the biggest losers in Hong Kong were Chinese tech giants after Tencent reported lackluster profits, fueling wider concerns for a grim earnings season as China’s economic outlook worsens.
Tencent plunged more than eight percent in early trading before paring losses slightly, a day after it posted its slowest revenue gain since going public in 2004.
Alibaba dropped more than six percent, while Baidu and Xiaomi were also down.
Elsewhere in the region, Australia posted its lowest jobless rate in 48 years, in a potential boost to Prime Minister Scott Morrison two days ahead of a tightly contested federal election.
The unemployment rate dipped to 3.9 percent, the official statistics body said, the lowest rate since 1974.
But stocks in Sydney were still down, as were those in Singapore, Seoul and Taipei.
Jakarta and Shanghai eked out small gains.
“Sentiment… is highly negative as traders and investors are largely concerned about an economic downturn and soaring inflation,” said AvaTrade analyst Naeem Aslam.
Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management called Wednesday’s losses “the most significant daily decline since June 2020.”
“The weakness came as Target’s quarterly earnings added fuel to the recession risk narrative,” he added.
Target, the North American-focused big-box retailer, plunged around 25 percent after earnings missed expectations despite higher sales.
The company pointed to the hit from higher operating costs in results that echoed those of bigger rival Walmart.
The retailers said profits were under pressure and some consumers were avoiding discretionary purchases as prices for food, gasoline and other household staples rise.
All three major US indices dove Wednesday, with the Dow sinking 3.6 percent and the Nasdaq plunging 4.7 percent.
“The big falls in shares of these retails… highlights the damage inflation is inflicting on the sector’s profit margins,” said Fawad Razaqzada at City Index.
“What’s more, consumers are getting squeezed as well and if they now start to cut back on spending then retailers could suffer even further.”
