Bourse dips on dented hopes of Fed rate cuts
Credit to Author: ANGELICA BALLESTEROS, TMT| Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2019 16:24:41 +0000
THE stock market finished lower on Wednesday as investors felt disheartened by the US Federal Reserve’s announcement that it was insulated from political pressures on rate cuts.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped by 0.26 percent or 20.52 points to close at 8,013.57, while the wider All Shares declined by 0.23 percent or 11.49 points to end at 4,897.51.
“Curbed hopes of monetary easing by the Federal Reserve plunged the local bourse,” brokerage firm Philstocks Financial Inc. said, referring to news on Tuesday that the US central bank pushed back on expectations of an interest rate cut at their next meeting, which President Donald Trump has been asking for.
Its chief, Jerome Powell, said the Fed was “insulated from short-term political pressures.”
In a separate comment, P2P Trade Online sales associate Gabriel Jose Perez said the local market mirrored the decline on Wall Street, with the Nasdaq down the most by 1.51 percent, followed by S&P 500 decreasing 0.95 percent, and the Dow Jones declining by 0.67 percent.
He added, however, that he was optimistic the market would still track an upward trajectory to its recent high of 8,139, having stayed afloat the 8,000 level.
“Event to watch out for would be how US markets perform tonight as another downturn could dampen the PSEi again” on Thursday, he said.
Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday, with Tokyo dropping 0.51 percent, Shanghai slipping 0.19 percent, Jakarta dipping 0.03 percent, and Bangkok declining 0.22 percent,
In contrast, Hong Kong rose 0.08 percent, Seoul inched up 0.01 percent and Singapore added 0.05 percent.
In Manila, only the mining and oil and property sectors finished in the green, up 0.46 percent and 0.22 percent, respectively.
More than 2.24 billion issues were traded valued at P8.13 billion.
Losers led winners, 108 to 86, while 56 issues were unchanged.
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