Philippine stocks down over reports of weak US economy

MANILA, Philippines—Risk aversion continued to weigh down trading as share prices again fell on Wednesday on weak US economic data, marking the local bourse’s sixth straight day in the red.

The main Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) lost 18 points, or 0.42 percent, after Wednesday’s trading to close at 4,271.59 points. The broader all-share index sank by 0.24 percent, or 7.14 points, to 3,000.93 as decliners led advancers 80 to 65, while 52 stocks were unchanged.

Stocks tracked losses on Wall Street the night before that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.5 percent; the Standard & Poor’s 500 by 0.4; and the Nasdaq composite by 0.1 percent.

“Worries abroad continued to stifle the foreign buying momentum. The weaker than expected US GDP growth also contributed to the uncertainty towards the local market,” a local brokerage firm said.

The index’s losses were led by property giant Megaworld Corp. (3.57 percent), infrastructure firm Metro Pacific Investments (2.24 percent), holding firm JG Summit (1.60 percent), and construction company DMCI (1.33 percent).

The market’s lackluster performance also follows the downgrade of the World Bank’s growth forecast for the country to just 4.5 percent, below the government forecast of as much as 6 percent.