Stocks fell for a second day after the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that both exports and imports registered year-on-year declines in April.
The PSE index, the 30-company bellwether of the Philippine Stock Exchange, shed 43 points, or 0.49 percent, to close at 6,507.15, as three of the six subsectors ended in the red.
The index representing all shares also lost 8 points, or 0.24 percent, to settle at 3,476.18 on a value turnover of P5.66 billion. Gainers led losers, 92 to 80, while 52 issues were unchanged.
Five of the 10 most active stocks ended in the green, led by Globe Telecom Inc. which climbed 3.78 percent to P1,785.00.
Meanwhile, the peso gained 0.11 percent Friday to close at 56.05 against the US dollar from 56.11 Thursday.
Most Asian markets advanced Friday, fired by renewed optimism that the Federal Reserve will hold off lifting interest rates next week as fresh data indicated further tightening in the US labor market.
Expectations the central bank will stand pat next week — for the first time since starting its hiking cycle last year — have pushed equities higher for most of the month, helped by the end of the US debt ceiling standoff.
“The Fed is the price-setter here, the others are the price-takers, and we should not confuse the two,” Evercore ISI’s Krishna Guha said.
The Bank of Canada and the Reserve Bank of Australia “are raising rates in part because they think the Fed will hike once more and if they fail to match this they risk forex depreciation”.
Analysts said a pick-up in industrial stocks indicated a broadening of the rally while others said the United States could even avoid a recession, which many had feared would happen because of the surge in interest rates over the past year.
In Asian trade, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, Taipei, Mumbai and Jakarta were all in positive territory.
But Singapore, Bangkok and Wellington dipped, while London, Paris and Frankfurt skidded in the morning.
Traders are now awaiting the release of the key US consumer price index next week, which comes ahead of the Fed policy decision, but with bets on a pause growing, observers said the July meeting was already in focus.
“Early days, but the June non-farm payrolls report is building to be a particularly interesting one—on the wages front in particular—given that money markets continue to price some 21 basis points of Fed tightening over the combined June and July (policy) meetings,” said National Australia Bank’s Ray Attrill.
Meanwhile, eyes are on China, where there is growing speculation that authorities will unveil fresh stimulus measures to kickstart the world’s number two economy, with the post-zero-Covid rally already fading.
Disappointing readings on manufacturing activity and trade this week have compounded the view that officials need to step in, with reports suggesting the People’s Bank of China will cut interest rates soon.
Expectations were ramped up Thursday after a key government adviser said borrowing costs should come down to help struggling firms’ financing ability.
The need for action was reinforced Friday by data showing consumer inflation essentially flat in May and wholesale prices falling more than expected.
“On the whole, the muted inflation environment may call into question the sustainability of the economic recovery, but it also provides a favorable backdrop for policymakers to roll out more policy support,” said HSBC’s Erin Xin.
On currency markets, the Turkish lira sat around record lows against the dollar, even as newly re-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed former Wall Street executive Hafize Gaye Erkan as central bank governor, signaling a possible shift in his unconventional policies to fight inflation. With AFP
