Philippine stocks trimmed their gains in late trading after a weak Wall Street overnight as fears of a trade war between the United States and China hit market sentiment.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 9.27 points, or 0.1 percent, to 8,048.72 on a value turnover of P6.1 billion. Losers edged gainers, 104 to 98, with 45 issues unchanged.
SM Investments Corp. of retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr. advanced 3.2 percent to P975, while Globe Telecom Inc., the second-biggest telecommunications firm, rose 2.7 percent to P1,668.
Security Bank Corp., the sixth largest lender in terms of assets, fell 2.9 percent to P229.20, while Jollibee Foods Corp., the biggest fastfood chain, lost 1.2 percent to P296.40.
China, meanwhile, led the market declines in Asia, with the main Shanghai Composite index down more than one percentage point heading into the final hour of trade.
In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.45 percent or 96.29 points to 21,292.29, paring early losses.
Markets in Seoul and Hong Kong were also weaker, with New Zealand the only regional exchange in the green.
However, the losses were not as bad as first feared at the open, with stocks across the region clawing back ground later in the session.
“The impact from the US market turned out not to be so bad as to incite terror here” thanks to lingering hopes that tensions may ease in the weeks to come, noted Makoto Sengoku, market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute.
Traders were however spooked by Chinese retaliatory action on trade with the US, as the government in Beijing slapped tariffs on 128 US imports worth $3 billion, including fruit and pork.
In addition to that move, US President Donald Trump again threatened to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement, tweeting that Mexico was doing too little to counter illegal immigration into the United States.
Investors also took their cue from US markets which tumbled on the first trading session back after Easter holidays, both on trade fears and a bearish turn for tech stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.9 percent lower while the broad-based S&P 500 shed 2.2 percent.
But it was tech stocks that led the declines, with the Nasdaq dropping 2.7 percent.
Giants Amazon, Facebook and Tesla Motors suffered the largest drops but the negative feeling infected the broader market.
Amazon sank 5.2 percent after a series of attacks by Trump in recent days in which he accused the retailer of profiteering at the expense of the US Postal Service.
“It started with the tech stocks and it’s become ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater,’” said J.J. Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade.
“They’re reassessing the valuation on the entire market,” said Kinahan. “A while ago all news was good news. Now (the) news is all things to be afraid of.”
With sentiment souring, the safe-haven yen strengthened earlier in the trading days before also falling back as equities pared losses.