Shares fall on weak peso, Trump tariff threat
SHARE PRICES fell Tuesday after US President-elect Donald J. Trump threatened to charge tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China and as the Philippine peso dragged investors sentiments.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell 0.63% or 43.14 points to 6,806.86 on Tuesday, while the broader all-shares index dropped 0.39% or 15.20 points, closing at 3,796.54.
“The PSEi again corrected after US President-elect Trump said he would impose an additional 10% tariff on imported goods from China and 25% tariffs on imported products from Mexico and Canada,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said via Viber.
The peso closed at P59 to the dollar Tuesday, further weakening from its P58.99 Monday close, according to the Bankers Association of the Philippines.
“The PSEi dipped amid sustained net foreign selling and below-average value ahead of the October print of the US Personal Consumption Expenditures Index,” China Bank Capital Corp. Managing Director Juan Paolo E. Colet said via Viber.
Third-quarter US gross domestic product and the October Personal Consumption Expenditures index will be released this week.
Most sectoral indices closed lower Tuesday. Services fell by 2.68% to 2,086.81; mining and oil declined 0.86% to 7,606.12; property shed 0.41% to 2,572.63; industrials declined 0.3% to 9,438.69; and holding firms lost 0.03% to 5,775.42.
Financials gained 0.53% to end at 2,290.37.
Value turnover plunged to P4.6 billion Tuesday with 587.79 million shares changing hands, down sharply from Monday’s P9.98 billion on 701.36 million shares traded.
The net foreign selling position expanded to P556.57 million Tuesday from P308.74 million a day earlier.
Decliners outnumbered advancers 110 to 82, while 43 closed unchanged.
China Bank Capital’s Mr. Colet estimated the PSEi’s immediate support at 6,600 to 6,700 points and resistance at 7,000; while RCBC’s Mr. Ricafort put the index’s immediate support at 6,715. — Ashley Erika O. Jose
