By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
THE MAIN INDEX retreated on Tuesday on thin trading as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the long weekend.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) plunged 1.3% or 92.97 points to close at 7,016.06 yesterday, snapping its two-day climb. The broader all-shares index also ended 1% lower or 43.59 points to 4,309.80.
“Seems like the market was already prepping itself up for the long weekend with today’s muted value turnover of only P3.9B. Participants may have also been liquidating positions in anticipation of the coming holiday,” P2P Trade Online Sales Associate Gabriel Jose F. Perez said in an e-mail on Tuesday.
Turnover dropped to P3.95 billion after some 429.04 million issues switched hands, declining from the previous session’s P4.23 billion.
Investors are taking positions ahead since the PSE will be closed on Nov. 1, Thursday and Nov. 2, Friday, for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, respectively.
Meanwhile, Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan attributed the market’s performance to the trade war between the United States and China.
“Philippines shares faltered with another threat from US on China. President Donald Trump’s administration could announce, by early December, tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports, if talks next month between [Donald] Trump and Xi Jinping aren’t fruitful,” Mr. Limlingan said in a mobile message, citing a report from Bloomberg.
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the Trump administration plans to announce a new set of tariffs on Chinese goods in December should talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping fall through. The two leaders are set to meet at the G20 Leader’s Conference at the end of November.
Wall Street ended another session with losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average stumbled 0.99% or 245.39 points to 24,442.92. The S&P 500 index fell 0.66% or 17.44 points to 2,641.25, while the Nasdaq Composite index plummeted 1.63% or 116.92 points to 7,050.29.
Most Asian indices closed Tuesday on a positive note due to the weaker Chinese yuan, which could indicate that Chinese exports will remain competitive despite its ongoing trade spat with the US.
Back home, four sectoral indices moved to negative territory, led by holding firms which sank 1.86% or 130.63 points to 6,875.10. Industrials slumped 1.49% or 157.74 points to 10,423.56; services shed 1.38% or 20.36 points to 1,450.95; while the property dropped 1.25% or 43.47 points to 3,434.04.
The mining and oil counter rose 0.68% or 64.82 points to 9,533.62, while financials added 0.5% or 8.02 points to 1,592.80.
Decliners outpaced advancers, 94 to 59, while 62 names were unchanged.
Net foreign selling ballooned to P939.97 million on Tuesday, more than double Monday’s figure of P391.91 million.

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