PHILIPPINE SHARES continued their decline on Tuesday as investor concerns over the coronavirus outbreak from China persist.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 118.93 points or 1.56% to close at 7,468.70 yesterday, while the broader all shares index fell 59.67 points or 1.32% to close at 4,435.67.

“Philippine shares tanked after more cases of the coronavirus piled up over throughout the day,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile phone message.

AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in a report fears over the novel coronavirus continued to take a toll on global markets.

“Last night, US indexes suffered its biggest daily loss in over three months. There are now reports that China is suppressing the full extent of the virus’ severity to avoid a panic. Beijing has extended its New Year Holiday for another week to keep people at home to contain the spread of the virus,” Mr. Mangun said on Tuesday. “Here at the PSE, the main index took a beating and closed at the low for the day on low volumes and a lack of buyers despite not seeing a single case of the new virus on our shores.”

The Philippines is currently monitoring 27 people for the virus. The country’s immigration bureau has also temporarily suspended “visa upon arrival” issuances for Chinese nationals.

Reuters reported that the total death toll from the virus has reached 106, up from 81 the day before. The number of total confirmed cases in China surged to 4,515 as of Monday, from 2,835 the previous day.

“The lack of buying today allowed regular selling to take prices much lower. Selling pressure was normal but buyers weren’t willing to buy at current prices. This triggered a sell down across the board,” Mr. Mangun added.

“Most of the PSEi’s losses can be attributed to losses in large-cap companies… It closed a few points below the 7,475 key support level which signals more bearishness in the short term. Several second and third liners also took losses as investors rush to reduce risks.”

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 453.93 points or 1.57%, while the S&P 500 index fell 1.60% and Nasdaq Composite index fell 1.9%.

Back home, all sectoral indices declined, led by mining and oil which lost 163.20 points or 2.04% to close at 7,812.78. Industrials gave up 180.31 points or 1.87% to end at 9,414.67; property lost 63.59 points or 1.60% to 3,906.16; holding firms dropped 115.93 points or 1.58% to 7,180.52; services declined 18.48 points or 1.20% to 1,515.86; and financials shed 11.26 points or 0.62% to 1,803.12.

Decliners outnumbered advancers, 121 to 65, while 42 names closed unchanged.

Value turnover stood at P4.44 billion on Tuesday as 579.05 million shares changed hands, higher than Monday’s P4.30 billion worth.

Foreigners turned bearish as net foreign selling totalled P544.47 million, a reversal of the previous day’s net purchases worth P66.68 million. — JPI with Reuters

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