STOCKS continued to decline on Wednesday as the market was weighed down by threats of new tariffs by the US on Chinese goods.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 30.09 points or 0.36% to finish at 8,233.48 yesterday. The all-shares index also gave up 11.45 points or 0.22% to close at 5,001.54.

“Local shares traded slightly in the red after President Trump cited that they could impose tariffs on another $325 billion of China goods. This was from a statement where he said that if the US wanted and an agreement with China on trade tariffs, it had ‘a long way to go,’ in a briefing with reporters. This came a day after he cited that the trade war had caused a slowdown in its economy,” Luis A. Limlingan, head of sales of Regina Capital Development Corp., said in a text message.

China on Tuesday rebuffed a suggestion from US President Donald Trump that Beijing needs a trade deal with the United States because its economy is slowing, saying this was “totally misleading” and that both countries wanted an agreement.

Mr. Trump, in a Monday tweet, seized on slowing economic growth in China as evidence that US tariffs were having “a major effect” and warned that Washington could pile on more pressure.

Official data on Monday showed China’s economic growth cooled to 6.2% in the second quarter, the weakest annual pace in at least 27 years, amid trade pressure from the United States. In the first half, the economy grew 6.3% compared with a year earlier.

Mr. Trump said on Tuesday the United States still has a long way to go to conclude a trade deal with China but could impose tariffs on an additional $325 billion worth of Chinese goods if it needed to do so.

Jervin S. de Celis, equity trader at the Timson Securities, Inc., shared the same sentiment: “The new threat of trade tariffs by US President Trump may somehow affect the PSEi’s movement as well as the MSCI announcement in early August.”

Mr. De Celis said profit taking also continued following the PSEi’s recent rally past the 8,300 mark.

He added that investors are waiting for more second quarter earnings results.

Most sector counters closed lower led by industrials, which went down 54.76 points or 0.46% to 11,807.16. Holding firms dropped 36.18 points or 0.45% to 7,911.60; property declined 15.88 points or 0.35% to 4,417.03; services dropped 3.63 points or 0.21% to 1,676.70; and financials lost 2.41 points or 0.13% to 1,851.64.

Mining and oil was the lone gainer as it ended 41.67 points or 0.53% higher at 7,835.94.

Losers narrowly beat gainers, 89 to 85, while 67 names ended flat.

Value turnover ended lower at P5.31 billion on Wednesday as 903.06 million shares changed hands, versus the previous session’s P10.49 billion.

Foreigners continued to be net buyers at P384.07 million, although lower than Tuesday’s P1.18 billion. — V.M.P. Galang with Reuters

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