PSEi down 1.53% as investors take profits
THE stock market took another dive on Thursday but stopped short of again falling below the 7,000 level, with investors said to have chosen to cash in following the previous day’s rebound.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 1.53 percent or 109.86 points to end at 7,066.57 while the wider All Shares dropped 1.28 percent or 56.07 points to finish at 4,323.23.
Eagle Equities, Inc. President Joseph Roxas said investors went on a selling spree after share prices jumped 2.42 percent on Wednesday, a view shared by Diversified Securities Inc trader Aniceto Pangan.
Timson Securities, Inc. trader Jervin de Celis, meanwhile, blamed continued trade jitters given mixed signals from the United States about a brewing trade war with China.
US President Donald Trump stopped short of announcing restrictions on Chinese investment but his economic advisor Larry Kudlow later warned that tough measures were still being contemplated.
“I guess it’s the announcement … last night about [the White House]pushing its plan to punish erring companies that violate American intellectual property rights,” de Celis said.
“That move, though less confrontational, still sent the Dow Jones lower so I guess the PSEi trailed the US markets due to lingering trade woes,” he added.
Wall Street’s three main indices dropped overnight, with the Dow Jones down 0.68 percent, the S&P 500 decreasing 0.86 percent and the Nasdaq dropping 1.54 percent.
In Manila, only the financials and mining and oil sectors rose on Thursday, eking out marginal gains of 0.06 percent and 0.10 percent, respectively.
More than 623 million issues valued at P5.79 billion changed hands.
Losers led winners, 114 to 79, while 51 issues were unchanged.
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