PSEi drops ahead of Holy Week break
Credit to Author: JORDEENE B. LAGARE| Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2019 16:27:41 +0000
THE stock market kicked off a shortened trading week by dropping to the 7,700 level on Monday, ignoring positive leads and snapping expectations of muted trading ahead of a Holy Week break.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) plunged by 1.18 percent or 92.84 points to close at 7,787.98 while the broader All Shares lost 0.95 percent or 46 points to end at 4,817.15.
All sub-sectors closed in the red with holding firms and services sustaining the biggest losses, dropping by 2.17 percent and 1.15 percent, respectively.
More than 1.182 billion shares valued at P7.868 billion changed hands.
Losers outmatched winners, 107 to 87, while 47 issues remained unchanged.
“Investors avoided Philippine shares today as the Holy Week begins and instead focused on other regions,” said Luis Limlingan, head of research and sales at Regina Capital Development Corporation.
Gabriel Jose Perez, sales associate at P2P Trade Online, said: “With the index’s weak close, support area … would be around 7,560-7,590.”
Philippine financial markets will be closed on April 18 and 19 as the country marks Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Trading will resume Monday, April 22.
The PSEi’s plunge came on a day of mixed results for the region, with early rallies in some cities pared but investors said to be still upbeat thanks to a healthy start to the US earnings season and hopes for China-US trade talks.
Traders raced out of the blocks as they put last week’s stutter behind them, boosted by data last week showing a sharp jump in credit growth in China as easing measures kick in, while exports beat expectations and inflation perked up.
New York’s three main indexes provided a positive lead after Wall Street titan JP Morgan recorded a pick-up in profits, suggesting the economy remains in rude health and fuelling optimism for upcoming corporate reports.
“The environment of easier financial conditions is beginning to have an impact on the broader economy,” Binay Chandgothia at Principal Global Investors told Bloomberg TV.
“If that is the case and growth does pick up, you’ll see an uptick in analyst expectations and earnings as well, which should help continue the rally.”
Tokyo added 1.4 percent, Singapore and Sydney were flat, while Wellington added 0.8 percent. Seoul, Mumbai, Taipei and Jakarta were also higher.
However, profit-takers stepped in as the day wore on, leading Hong Kong and Shanghai to end with losses, Singapore also suffered a sell-off. Investors are now looking ahead to the release of Chinese growth figures Wednesday.
In early trade London dropped 0.1 percent, but Paris and Frankfurt each rose 0.1 percent.
Investors were back in a buying mood after last week’s gyrations that came on the back of concerns about a possible new trade war between the US and the European Union as Donald Trump threatened to hit the bloc with tariffs over subsidies to aviation giant Airbus.
Buying was also being supported by comments from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who said at the weekend that he was “hopeful we’re getting close to the final round of concluding issues” on the China trade talks.
The remarks were picked up as another positive sign that the trade war between the world’s top two economies, which helped hammer global markets last year, could be nearing an end.
The International Monetary Fund said the world economy should start to bounce back towards the end of the year, as long as China and the US resolve their differences.
US officials are also kicking off two days of trade talks with Japan later in the day in Washington, with both sides previously saying they wanted to reach an agreement quickly.
FROM REPORTS BY Jordeene B. Lagare AND AFP
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