Asian shares slide amid Wall Street retreat, falling oil prices

MANILA, Philippines — Asian shares fell yesterday after a retreat on Wall Street as crude oil prices slipped on expectations that supply might outpace demand.

In the Philippines, the local stock market   slipped by 71.08 points or 1.13 percent to close  at 6,234.77 yesterday, down by 71.08 points or 1.13 percent.

The broader All Shares index likewise fell  by 22.08 points or 0.66 percent to finish at  3,329.58.

All the sectoral gauges were down as well with financials and services among the biggest decliners.

Total value turnover reached P3.7 billion. Market breadth was positive, 83 to 82 while 49 issues were unchanged.

Mikhail Plopenio of Philstocks Financials said the local market dropped  as investors took cues from Wall Street’s overnight performance.

Plopenio said the  year on year decline in China’s November imports also weighed on sentiment as it is one of the Philippines’ top trading partners.”

“Additionally, the dismal ranking of the Philippines in the recent 2022 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) wherein the country ranked 77th out of 81 countries, was digested by investors. The results reflected our relatively challenged educational sector which can have consequences on our economy’s competitiveness in the long run,” Plopenio said.

Wall Street is betting the Fed’s next move will be to cut rather than raise interest rates. The Federal Reserve’s next meeting on interest rates is next week, and the widespread expectation is for it to leave its main interest rate alone at its highest level in more than two decades.

A report on Wednesday said private employers added fewer jobs last month than economists expected. A cooling in the job market could remove upward pressure on inflation.

A more comprehensive report on the job market from the US government is due Friday.

A separate report said US businesses increased how much stuff they produced in the summer by more than the total number of hours their employees worked. That stronger-than-expected gain in productivity more than offset increases to workers’ wages and also could help keep a lid on inflation.