Bourse dips as investors seek clarity
Credit to Author: TYRONE JASPER C. PIAD| Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2019 16:24:42 +0000
TRADING ended lower on Thursday as investors remained cautious ahead of the monetary policy meetings of the European and American central banks.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dipped by 0.30 percent or 23.47 points to finish at 7,944.43, while the wider All Shares fell by 0.11 percent or 5.03 points to end at 4,799.79.
“Local shares closed lower, with investors awaiting further clarity on central bank stimulus plans and international trade negotiations,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.
The European Central Bank was set to meet on Thursday, with observers and analysts speculating it would fresh economy-boosting measures, including an interest rate cut deeper into negative territory.
The Federal Reserve, meanwhile, is expected to further reduce borrowing costs during its September 17 and 18 meeting following weak jobs figures and signs of slowing economic growth.
Papa Securities sales associate Gabriel Jose Perez said the PSEi “once again failed to share positive sentiment from US markets last night, as well as the latest trade war development.”
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) he would delay increase tariffs on Chinese goods, hours after the Chinese government announced it would remove 16 US products from its own planned levies.
In a tweet, Trump said: “We have agreed, as a gesture of good will, to move the increased Tariffs on 250 Billion Dollars worth of goods (25% to 30%), from October 1st to October 15th.”
He added that the delay was requested by “Vice Premier of China, Liu He, and due to the fact that the People’s Republic of China will be celebrating their 70th Anniversary,” on October 1.
“The index might continue to end on a flat note for the last day of the week, especially since we’ve already seen how muted the PSEi’s reaction to US market movement is already,” Perez said.
US markets surged, with the Nasdaq taking the lead at 1.06 percent. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 finished up 0.85 percent and 0.72 percent, respectively.
In contrast, most Asian markets fell on Thursday. Jakarta recorded the steepest fall at 0.45 percent, followed by Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand at 0.23 percent, 0.21 percent and 0.20 percent, respectively. Tokyo and Shanghai gained 0.75 percent, while Seoul rose by 0.84 percent.
In Manila, all sectors were in the red, except for holding firms and mining and oil, which rose by 0.14 percent and 0.17 percent, respectively.
Over 702 million shares amounting to P6.72 billion were traded.
Losers outnumbered winners, 96-93, while 50 issues were unchanged.
WITH A REPORT FROM AFP