PSEi drops to 7,900 on trade talk worries
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2019 16:28:51 +0000
THE stock market fell back to the 7,900 level on Friday, tracking a regional retreat attributed to reports that little progress had been made following high-level trade talks between the United States and China.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped by 1.03 percent or 82.36 points to close at 7,909.89 while the broader All Shares declined by 0.58 percent or 28.32 points to finish at 4,823.32.
Timson Securities Inc. trader Jervin de Celis said that market players sold after trade talks in Beijing ended with no indication of any concrete progress ahead of a March 1 deadline.
Negotiations ended around mid-day on Friday and the delegations parted with nothing announced.
Attention then shifted to a planned meeting later that day between the US delegation and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with markets watching for signals that the world’s
two economic superpowers may look to maintain a truce on damaging reciprocal tariffs.
“[L]ower retail sales data in the US are also fueling concerns about the American economy, urging foreign investors to take profits … as they wait for positive developments overseas and more favorable data such as corporate earnings of local companies,” De Celis added.
On Thursday, the US Commerce Department reported that retail sales data dropped to 1.2 percent in December, the largest decline since 2009.
This, along with mixed earnings reports, led to a decline on Wall Street, which in the wake of news from Beijing spurred a retreat in Asia on Friday.
Hong Kong shed 1.9 percent while Shanghai fell 1.4 percent. Tokyo dropped 1.1 percent, with equities weighed down as the safe-haven yen rose.
Seoul, Taipei, Wellington and Jakarta all posted losses too, though Sydney edged up.
The bearish mood was amplified by official data showing factory and consumer price inflation in China rose at a slower rate than expected in January.
In a separate comment, AAA Southeast Equities Inc. President Matthew Cabangon said investors had also repositioned portfolios ahead of a PSEi rebalancing set to take effect on February 18.
Sectoral results were mixed, with the holding firms and property indices the only gainers.
More than 2.8 billion shares valued at P16.4 billion were traded.
Losers led winners, 127 to 83, while 46 issues were unchanged.
ANGELICA BALLESTEROS and AFP
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