Global worries spark over 2% drop for PSEi
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2019 16:25:04 +0000
THE stock market plummeted by more than 2 percent on Thursday, joining other Asian markets that were hammered by an abrupt end to a summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, a slowdown in Chinese factory output and continued uncertainties over prospects of a US-China trade deal.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 183.63 points or 2.33 percent — its biggest one-day drop since a 2.6-percent plunge on May 3 last year — to 7,705.49, also its lowest close since January 8, 2019’s 7,702.12.
The broader All Shares, meanwhile, fell by 1.64 percent or 79.61 points to end at 4,769.75.
Philstocks Financial Inc. research associate Japhet Louis Tantiangco attributed the selloffs to worries over US-China trade negotiations after
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer cautioned legislators on Wednesday that much still needed to be done to settle the US-China trade dispute.
Tantiangco said investors also sold after data indicated that China’s factory output fell to a three-year low in February.
Timson Securities Inc. trader Jervin de Celis agreed, adding that the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) report renewed worries about a slowdown in China, which is one of the Philippines’ top trading partners.
Trade talk worries and China PMI data, along with renewed geopolitical tensions in Kashmir, generated market fluctuations earlier in the day in Asia but things headed south after a an expected lunch and signing ceremony between the US and North Korean leaders was called off at the last minute.
The shock news came just hours after Kim raised the prospect of a permanent US diplomatic presence in Pyongyang and Trump said he was in “no rush” for a speedy deal over North Korea’s nuclear program.
Seoul dove by 1.8 percent and Tokyo ended 0.8 percent lower, while Shanghai and Hong Kong both shed 0.4 percent. Singapore lost 0.8 percent.
Jakarta was more than one percent down while Bangkok slipped 0.4 percent, though there were gains in Sydney and Wellington.
A global rally that has characterized most of this year had already taken a knock after Lighthizer’s testimony before a US House of Representatives committee gave traders pause for thought.
“The combination of the lack of progress with North Korea and China will drag on equities and we might have to wait for a new catalyst to renew the bullish start to the year,” said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com.
Tensions between Pakistan and India, meanwhile, continued to heighten and both said they had shot down each others’ fighter jets on
Wednesday, fueling worries of a conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
In Manila, all sectoral results finished in the red, with the financials index down the most by 3.03 percent.
More than 2.8 billion shares valued at P17.58 billion were traded.
Losers led winners, 142 to 56, while 43 issues were unchanged.
FROM REPORTS BY AFP AND ANGELICA BALLESTEROS
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