The Philippine stock market sank for a sixth straight trading day as investors remained anxious over the possible impact of US president-elect Donald Trump’s policy in the region.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index fell 95.78 points, or 1.41 percent, to close at 6,714.33 Wednesday, while the wider all-shares index ended at 3,792.46, down 27.88 points, or 0.73 percent.
BDO Capital & Investments Corp. president Eduardo Francisco said investors were still worried about the impact of Trump’s economic policy in Asian, particularly China.
Francisco said the market was on an upward momentum prior to the US presidential elections, but sentiments turned sour after the result of the election came out and also because of lower third-quarter Philippine economic growth.
He said investors, however, remain upbeat about next year as interest rates are expected to decline.
All sectors were in the red, with the banks having the biggest loss of 1.84 percent, followed by the Industrials with 1.8 percent.
Foreign funds continued to shift their funds back to the US as foreign selling amounted to P1.2 billion. The peso closed at 58.73 against the US dollar Wednesday, slightly up from 58.83 Tuesday.
“So far this November, total net foreign selling has reached approximately P10.80 billion, with not a single day of net foreign buying recorded,” Philstocks Financial Inc research analyst Claire Alviar said.
There were only three gainers among the index members, with Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. having the biggest gain of 3.01 percent to close at P16.44.
Bloomberry Resorts Corp. was at the bottom, declining by 7.3 percent to P6.86 on lower third-quarter earnings.
