LOCAL EQUITIES slumped on Tuesday as the second meeting between United States and North Korean leaders alongside the delay of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s scheduled speech in the afternoon dampened investor sentiment.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped 1.02% or 78.14 points to close at 7,518.01 Tuesday, September 11, managing to rise from its intraday low of 7,492.40 before the closing bell. The broader all-shares index likewise fell 0.93% or 43.43 points to 4,597.28.
“Participants may have been anticipating President Duterte’s supposed address to the nation. This was, however, moved from the original schedule of 3 p.m. to a later time,” Papa Securities Corp. trader Gabriel Jose F. Perez said by e-mail.
Mr. Duterte announced on Monday that he will be addressing the nation at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 11. Malacañang, however, canceled the supposed appearance and later said that the president will have a “tête-à-tête” with Chief Presidential Counsel Salvador Panelo.
“Local shares slid once more as FANG weakness, apprehension over a second meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un, and lingering concern over US and China trade tensions weighed on investor optimism,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said in a text message.
FANG stocks are those of four of the largest technology companies in the world, namely Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google. The stocks have been declining in previous days which some analysts attribute to seasonality.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was also reported to have requested for a second meeting with US President Donald J. Trump to continue nuclear negotiations. This will be a follow-up to their first meeting in Singapore last June.
Wall Street indices ended mixed overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipping 0.23% or 59.47 points to 25,857.07. In contrast, the S&P 500 index gained 0.19% or 5.45 points to 2,877.13, while the Nasdaq Composite index added 0.27% or 21.62 points to 7,924.16.
Most Asian indices also posted slower performances following the announcement of Kim Jong Un’s second summit with Mr. Trump.
Back home, all sectoral indices closed in negative territory, led by the mining and oil sector which closed 2.19% or 212.43 points lower at 9,447.46. Holding firms shed 1.8% or 136.12 points to close at 7,396.41; industrials gave up 0.8% or 91.04 points to 11,227.99; financials slipped 0.75% or 12.85 points to 1,692.92; services lost 0.48% or 7.37 points to 1,510.32; while property went down 0.37% or 13.93 points to 3,728.90.
Some 1.12 billion issues switched hands valued at P5.40 billion, thinner than the previous session’s P7.40 billion.
Decliners were almost triple advancing stocks, 150 to 58, while 42 names ended flat.
Foreign investors were net sellers for a ninth straight day, with net outflows reaching P577.03 million on Tuesday, albeit lower than the P852.58 million in net sales posted on Monday. — Arra B. Francia

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