The main share is back in the red on Friday, May 25, failing to maintain its positive performance on Thursday as traders responded to tensions between United States (US) and North Korea.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed at 7,647.51 on the trading week’s end, shedding 5.02 points or 0.06%. The broader all shares index, meanwhile, gained 7.32 points or 0.15% to close at 4,654.67.
Regina Capital Development Corp. managing director Luis A. Limlingan said the turnout was affected by a steep fall of energy-related shares in US stocks yesterday, therefore dragging the broader market as well.
“The three main equity benchmarks in the US closed off the worst levels of the session after President Donald Trump canceled a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, citing ‘open hostility’ from the country,” he said.
On Thursday, Mr. Trump called off his supposed meeting with Mr. Kim on a summit scheduled for June 12 because of North Korea’s repeated threats to pull out of it.
For Aniceto K. Pangan, equities trader at Diversified Securities, Inc., the decline in PSEi was because of the lack of a strong mover to keep the stocks increasing.
“Market continued its consolidation today with a downward bias on profit taking due to absence of catalyst,” he said.
PNB Securities, Inc. President Manuel Antonio G. Lisbona said decisions made by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday affected the stock market.
“The market was buoyed by the BSP trimming its reserve requirement to 18% effective June 1. Note that the BSP has a lot of room still to cut the reserve requirement as the average for the region is around 7.5%,” he said.
But he noted that the development was tempered by market expectations of an increase in interest rates by 25 bps because of inflation. — Denise A. Valdez

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