PHILIPPINE stocks fell Monday as Asian markets slipped following the political crisis in South Korea and Syria as well as weak data from China.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index dropped 48.57 points, or 0.72 percent, to close at 6,680.57. The wider all-shares Index declined by 13.57 points, or 0.36 percent, to settle at 3,777.11.
The peso also tumbled to 58.01 against the US dollar Monday from 57.73 Friday.
At the stock market, four of six indices ended in the red. Holding firms went down by 2.34 percent, followed by property which declined by 1.1 percent, mining and oil by 0.21 percent and industrial by 0,18 percent. Financials rose 0 30 percent, while services advanced 0.21 percent.
Value turnover reached P4.39 billion.
Semirara Mining and Power Corp. jumped 2.54 percent to P34.25, while SM Investments Corp. dropped 3.83 percent to P800.
Despite the market’s decline, Metrobank’s research group expects the PSEi to trade sideways with a slight upward bias in the remaining trading days of the week on bargain-hunting.
Sentiment may be dragged by geopolitical unrest in the Middle East, as Syrian rebels successfully ousted President Bashar al-Assad.
South Korean stocks tumbled Monday as the country was racked with political uncertainty after President Yoon Suk Yeol escaped impeachment following his brief imposition of martial law last week.
The retreat came on a tough day for Asian markets despite another record on Wall Street, though Hong Kong bounced in the afternoon after China said it would adopt a looser approach to monetary policy.
Traders were also keeping tabs on Syria after president Bashar al-Assad’s removal.
Investors in Seoul were on edge after a near-total boycott of Saturday’s impeachment vote by Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) doomed it to failure.
However, the main opposition party said Sunday it would try again, while police arrested the defense minister in charge of the martial law operation and the interior minister resigned.
They and Yoon are being investigated for alleged insurrection. The president was also hit Monday with a travel ban.
Meanwhile, Filinvest Land Inc. reported plans to issue P12-billion in fixed-rate bonds. The bonds will be issued from the company’s P35-billion bond shelf registration program approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission. with AFP
