THE LOCAL BOURSE took a dive on Monday as trade tension between the United States and China pummeled market sentiment across the globe.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell 1.51% or 112.85 points to close at 7,348.21 yesterday, marking its fourth day of losses, while the broader all-shares index dropped 1.21% or 54.74 points to 4,441.14.
“Equities markets were down all Asia including here in the PSE as worries that a rise in tensions between Washington and Beijing could ruin the chances of a trade deal,” Eagle Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in an e-mail on Monday.
Canada’s arrest of Chinese tech giant Huawei’s chief financial officer last week continued to worry investors, despite a 90-day truce promised by US President Donald J. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last month.
The PSEi took cues from Wall Street’s negative performance last Friday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.24% or 558.72 points to 24,388.95; the S&P 500 index retreated 2.33% or 62.87 points to 2,633.08; and the Nasdaq Composite index plunged 3.05% or 219.01 points to 6,969.25.
Most Asian indices also fell, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 closing 2.12% lower, the Shanghai Composite index shedding 0.82%, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan losing 1.4%.
Mr. Mangun, however, noted that from a technical standpoint, the PSEi’s decline was a “healthy pullback” given its rally in the last three weeks.
All sectoral indices moved to negative territory, led by holding firms which incurred a 2.11% loss or 153.81 points to 7,135.97. Financials shed 1.58% or 28.30 points to 1,766.99; property slumped 1.25% or 45.86 points to 3,600.40; industrials tumbled 1.12% or 122.19 points to 10,719.33; mining and oil slipped 1.11% or 93.63 points to 8,317.60; while services declined 0.32% or 4.62 points to 1,407.67.
Some 2.26 billion shares worth P14.84 billion switched hands, compared to last Fiday’s 2.32 billion issues worth P6.29 billion. Without block transaction of Melco Resorts and Entertainment (Philippines) Corp., turnover would have been P5.1 billion. The company’s majority shareholder concluded its voluntary tender offer last week, with the shares tendered crossed from the PSE yesterday.
Foreign investors turned buyers, with net purchases at P3.96 billion, compared to Friday’s P261.78 million in net sales. The large figure, however, could also be attributed to Melco’s block transaction.
Stocks that declined were more than double those that advanced, 134 to 59, while 43 others ended flat.
“Looks like we’ll be short of catalysts for the remainder of the year, with the only possible exception being year-end window dressing,” Papa Securities Corp. Head of Online Trading Arbee B. Lu said in a separate e-mail.
“Considering how US markets are heavily in the red though, we aren’t expecting a significant boost from funds abroad.” — Arra B. Francia

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