STOCKS opened the week in negative territory as the market took a breather ahead of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index fell 0.33% or 27.09 points to 7,962.64.

The broader all-shares index also dropped 0.27% or 12.97 points to 4,758.67.

“The market is still moving within the trading range, between 7,800 and 8,000, but value turnover was subdued as investors are waiting to digest the contents of the President’s SONA,” PNB Securities, Inc. Manuel Antonio G. Lisbona said in a text message on Monday.

“On top of that, the market is bracing for key economic releases this week in the US, which are the Q2 GDP (gross domestic product) advance estimate and the Q2 employment cost index on Friday,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile phone message yesterday.

“Later in the week, we do not expect any policy changes at the July FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting and expect only limited changes to the post-meeting statement. Investors will likely focus their attention on possible changes to the language describing inflation and the timing of balance sheet normalization,” Mr. Limlingan added.

The Federal Reserve starts a two-day policy meeting today, where it is expected to keep borrowing costs steady but possibly make hints on future interest rate hikes.

Of the sectors, only services saw gains, inching up 0.01% or 0.17 point to 1,693.21.

Meanwhile, property slumped 0.48% or 18.43 points to 3,772.54; mining and oil declined 0.48% or 62.97 points to 12,928.09; industrials went down 0.38% or 43.24 points to 11,193.09; holding firms declined 0.36% or 28.61 points to 7,899.32; and financials dropped 0.09% or 1.89 points to close at 1,963.12.

Decliners beat advancers, 109 to 100, while 50 issues were unchanged.

Value turnover stood at P5.85 billion on Monday, lower than the P7.86 billion logged last Friday, as 2.71 billion shares changed hands.

Foreigners continued to be net buyers at P79.85 million, higher than the P67.08 million in net purchases seen the prior trading day.

Southeast Asian stock markets were sluggish in low-volume trade on Monday, in line with Asian peers as US political uncertainties dampened hopes for quick passage of President Donald J. Trump’s stimulus and tax reform agendas, weighing on investors’ risk appetite.

The Trump administration, already dogged by investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the US election, took a fresh hit on Friday after White House spokesman Sean Spicer resigned, highlighting an upheaval within the president’s inner circle.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.1% in early trade. The dollar index against a group of six currencies was little changed at 93.854. — JCL with Reuters

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