PSEI flat; investors assess typhoon impact

PHILIPPINE shares ended flat on Monday with analysts noting that investors were still assessing the inflationary impact of Typhoon Ompong, which battered the northern Philippines over the weekend.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) inched up by 0.006 percent or 0.41 points to close at 7,413.56. The broader All Shares declined 0.12 percent or 5.30 points to finish at 4,550.00.

“The market is still trying to figure out what would be the situation in the coming months because this typhoon has caused a little bit of concern” with regard to commodities from the north, Summit Securities, Inc. President Harry Liu said.

Papa Securities Corp. trader Gabriel Jose Perez echoed this, saying: “Recall how the provinces of Cagayan and Isabela, producers of rice and corn, were hit which may add pressure on inflationary effects this month.”

Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan, meanwhile, said the local market reacted to Wall Street’s lackluster Friday, which was blamed on news that US President Donald Trump was preparing to impose new tariffs on Chinese imports.

Asian market sank on Monday as follow-up reports said Trump had decided to impose 10-percent levies on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and could make an announcement in the coming days.

That would come on top of the $50 billion already announced over the summer and would account for about half of China’s exports to the United States. Beijing has threatened to retaliate against any measures.

Hong Kong led losses Monday, dropping 1.3 percent while Shanghai ended 1.1 percent off. Seoul and Singapore each lost 0.7 percent, while Taipei, Jakarta and Mumbai also saw deep losses. Sydney edged 0.3 percent higher.
Tokyo was closed for a public holiday.

In Manila, sectoral results were mixed with the property and industrial indices the only gainers.
Volume turnover was thin with 968 million issues valued at P3.94 billion traded.

Decliners beat advancers, 99 to 95, while 44 issues were unchanged.

 WITH A REPORT FROM AFP

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