PSEi tumbles on Trump protectionist stance

MANILA, Philippines — Investors continued to trade cautiously after hearing US President Donald Trump’s inauguration speech, sending the local stock market to a second straight day of decline.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index declined by 0.15 percent or 9.68 points to close yesterday’s session at 6,340.21.

The broader All Shares index likewise ended in the negative territory, slipping by 0.07 percent or 2.62 points to 3,700.24.

“Rising domestic inflation fears arising anew, along with rising 10-year US Treasuries are causing investors to remain sidelined and wait for more concrete signs of a resilient Philippine economy. This is despite the positive tone from President Trump’s inauguration speech which caused a little peso appreciation,” Reyes Tacandong & Co. senior adviser Jonathan Ravelas said.

Net value turnover remained thin at P3.28 billion, with net foreign selling at P173.15 million.

Only the property and holding firms indexes capped off the session higher, gaining by 0.89 percent and 0.34 percent, respectively.

Mining and oil, meanwhile, lost the most, plunging by 2.13 percent.

Decliners pummeled advancers, 104 to 76, while 59 issues were unchanged.

Among the index members, Converge posted the biggest increase at 2.62 percent, while URC recorded the biggest drop at 4.07 percent.

BDO Unibank was yesterday’s top traded company, shedding 1.50 percent to P144 per share, followed by ICTSI with a1.52-percent decline to P390.

Ravelas said that further sideways to down movements toward the 6,000 levels should be expected in the near-term to trigger renewed interest in the market.