Local stocks continue slump
By Arra B. Francia, Senior Reporter
THE main index continued its descent for the second day on the back of lingering fears of an looming recession in the United States.
The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slumped 0.42% or 32.88 points to close at 7,795.98. The broader all shares index likewise slipped 0.11% or 5.21 points to 4,741.14.
“The local market extends its losses by 32.88 points as investors continue to digest the recession signals brought about by the US bond market,” Philstocks Financial, Inc said in a market note.
Yields of short-term and long-term US Treasury notes inverted earlier this week, which analysts take as a sign of an upcoming recession. Markets over the world have been reacting negatively to the warning sign since.
Asian markets started to improve Friday, as China announced plans to boost disposable income and stabilize employment. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.06% or 13.16 points to 20,418.81; the Shanghai Composite gained 0.28% or 8.03 points to 2,823.82, while the Hang Seng index jumped 0.94% or 238.76 points to 25,734.22.
Wall Street indices ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.39% or 99.97 points to 25,579.39. The S&P 500 index advanced 0.25% or 7 points to 2,847.60, while the Nasdaq Composite index dipped 0.09% or 7.32 points to 7,766.62.
Meanwhile, Papa Securities Corp. Sales Associate Gabriel Jose F. Perez attributed the local market’s movement to the rebalancing on Monday.
“It was a dull end for the PSEi after closing 32.88 points in the red at 7,795.98, after trading in the green late in the afternoon. Volume was quite substantial at P8.7 billion on the index’s rebalancing,” Mr. Perez said in an email.
The PSE earlier this month announced the recomposition of the Industrial and Property indices, while the PSEi and the rest of the sectoral counters will stay intact. The changes will take effect on Monday, Aug. 19.
Four sectoral indices closed in negative territory: financials lost 1.46% or 26.42 points to 1,779.29; mining and oil dropped 0.26% or 21.14 points to 8,051.19; services shed 0.22% or 3.51 points to 1,568.85; while industrial went down 0.13% or 13.80 points to 10,844.32.
In contrast, holding firms rose 0.26% or 19.76 points to 7,727 and property added 0.22% or 9.03 points to 4,036.97.
Some 692.52 million issues switched hands valued at P8.695 billion, lower than Thursday’s P11.81 billion.
Advancers outpaced decliners, 127 to 73, while 47 names were unchanged.
Foreign investors snapped their eight-day net selling streak Friday, with net inflows of P298.69 million versus net sales of P1.75 billion in the previous session.
