LOCAL shares ended the week in the green, despite the United States’ fresh threats to impose more tariffs on Chinese goods.

The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) went up 31.77 points or 0.39% to close at 8,129.93 on Friday. The broader all-share index rose by 22.05 points or 0.45% to reach 4,926.56

“The index saw a stunning recovery late in the afternoon after dropping by as much as 91 points early on in the day. Initial weakness was due to movement of US markets last night from the threat of another round of tariffs from (US President Donald) Trump,” Papa Securities Corp. Sales Associate Gabriel Jose F. Perez said in an e-mail on Friday.

“Might be too soon to say that the index is out of the woods despite it being bought up at the close. Continue to monitor US markets for further developments as this could dictate regional market movement in the coming days,” he added.

According to reports, Mr. Trump said that he will impose a 10% tariff on another $300 billion worth of Chinese goods, which will take effect on September 1, after the latest bilateral talks showed little signs of development. This move will effectively tax all Chinese imports to the US, escalating the trade war between the world’s largest economies.

China has responded by saying that the US should know its responsibility and go back to resolving the trade war. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying was quoted as saying the country would have to implement countermeasures if the US would push through with more tariffs.

“At home, the move was seen as less impactful and investors bought towards closing… The new import taxes, which Trump later said go could ‘well beyond’ 25%, will be imposed beginning Sept. 1 on a long list of goods expected to include smartphones, laptop computers and children’s clothing. A total of $250 billion of China-made products are already subject to a 25% import charge,” Luis A. Limlingan, head of sales of Regina Capital Development Corp., said in a text message.

Escalation of US-China trade tensions also weighed on US stocks. Dow Jones Industrial lost 280.85 points or 1.05% to 26,583.42, the S&P 500 index decreased 26.82 points or 0.90% to 2,953.56, while the Nasdaq Composite went down 64.30 points or 0.79% to 8,111.12.

As for Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 453.83 points or 2.11% to 21, 087.16; Shanghai Composite shed 40.93 points or 1.41% to 2,867.84; Kospi Index slid 19.21 points or 0.95% to 1,998.13; and HongKong’s Hang Seng index also decreased 654.52 points or 2.37% to 26,911.18.

At the Philippine Stock Exchange, most subsectors were in the green except the services subsector, which lost 7.67 points or 0.47% to end at 1,613.12.

Gainers were led by mining and oil up by 129.63 points or 1.63% to 8,101.47, followed by industrials, which climbed 77.89 points or 0.69% to 11,412.13. Holding firms increased 51.87 points or 0.66% to 7,901.63, while property rose 21.76 points or 0.51% to 4,324; and financials added 2.32 points or 0.13% to 1,861.12.

Some 1.787 billion issues valued at P5.681 billion switched hands on Friday, lower than the previous session’s P6.66 billion.

Foreigner investors were buyers for two days straight with a P256.65 million inflow from Thursday’s P51.27 million. Advancers edged out losers, 129 to 61, while 52 issues were unchanged. — VMPG

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