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Philippines
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Stocks retreat; Apex, Philex lead advances

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The stock market fell Friday as investors fretted about declining remittances of migrant Filipino workers that could depress household spending.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index declined 39.86 points, or 0.7 percent, to 5,898.47 on a value turnover of P5.6 billion. Gainers, however, beat losers, 118 to 89, with 46 issues unchanged.

Cash remittances from Filipinos working overseas slid 4.1 percent in August to $2.48 billion from $2.589 billion a year ago on lower inflows from both the land-based and sea-based workers amid the prolonged impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Thursday.

The latest figure brought the remittance tally in the first eight months to $19.285 billion, down 2.6 percent from $19.808 billion registered in the same period last year.

Puregold Price Club Inc. of retail tycoon Lucio Co. dropped 4.4 percent to P41.40, while Metropolitan Bank & Truct Co., the second-biggest lender in terms of assets, slipped 2.2 percent to P40.90.

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Apex Mining Co. Inc., however, jumped 34.9 percent to P2.09, while Philex Mining Corp. surged 20.8 percent to P5.70. President Rodrigo Duterte approved the recommendation of the Department of Energy to lift the suspension of petroleum activities and the resumption of exploration in the West Philippine Sea. Philex, through unit PXP Energy Corp., has exploration interests in the West Philippine Sea.

The rest of Asian stock markets were mixed Friday, with gainers supported by bargain-buying after the previous day’s sell-off, with investors growing increasingly concerned about new lockdown measures in Europe as a second wave of coronavirus takes hold.

Traders were also keeping tabs on developments in Washington as lawmakers struggle to find agreement on a new stimulus for the beleaguered US economy, with a disappointing jobs report highlighting the need for action.

But analysts suggested that with Democrats and Joe Biden enjoying big opinion poll leads, expectations for a clean sweep of Congress and the White House in the November 3 elections is lending buoyancy to equities on hopes they will pass a much bigger rescue package.

Hong Kong led gains, jumping 0.9 percent after a drop of more than two percent on Thursday, while Shanghai, Mumbai and Singapore were also in positive territory. However, Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Taipei, Jakarta and Wellington were all down.

All three main indexes on Wall Street finished in the red for a third day, hit by unsettling infection rates in the US and particularly in Europe that many fear could see the return of economically painful restrictions similar to those imposed earlier this year. 

London faces more stringent restrictions as cases rise, while Paris and eight other French cities will be put under partial curfew for as long as six weeks.

Germany also ramped up measures, while the EU’s disease control agency labelled more than half of the bloc’s member states as red zones in a new map to guide countries’ decisions on travel restrictions.

“We need to take into account the tremendous rally we’ve had over the past five months so some consolidation is certainly warranted,” Jim McDonald at Northern Trust told Bloomberg TV. With AFP

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