THE LOCAL stock barometer fell below the 6,300 mark on Wednesday as global growth worries dragged emerging market stocks to seven-year lows.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 97.44 points or 1.53 percent to close at 6,259.61, weighed down by the selldown on property stocks.
Across the region, stocks markets were bludgeoned by concerns on the global economy especially with the downturn in oil prices to below the $28 per barrel mark.
“Bearish sentiment persisted overnight. US equities failed to hang on the futures’ rally during yesterday’s Asian trading hours, oil prices fell another 2-4 percent, industrial metals prices weakened further, US Treasury yields remained near recent lows, the risk-averse euro and Japanese yen outperformed, and EM (emerging market) currencies resumed weakening versus the dollar,” Citigroup said in an Asian research note on Wednesday.
“We believe our bearish stance for EM remains appropriate,” the Citi note added, noting that the latest batch of economic data out of the region continued to highlight downside growth risks.
At the local market, the property counter slid by 3.93 percent while holding firms declined by 2.12 percent. Only the services counter eked out a modest gain.
Property stocks are seen to be next in line for investors’ programmed selling amid growing risk aversion globally. “First was gaming, second telecoms and ICTSI, third (now) is property. Last would be banks and conglomerates,” a stock market analyst said.
A regional rebound on Tuesday proved short-lived as concerns over China and the oil supply glut again took centerstage.
Value turnover for the day amounted to P5.33 billion. There were over two times more decliners (114) than the gainers (48).
Megaworld led the PSEi and the property counter lower with its 10.2 percent decline while ALI also fell by 4.84 percent. They were the two most actively traded stocks for the day.
AC fell by 5.08 percent while Sy-led SM Prime and SMIC fell by over 2 percent. GTCAP was down by over 1 percent while URC and BDO also ended lower.
Outside of PSEi stocks, retailer RRHI took a beating, declining by 3.36 percent.
On the other hand, PLDT shares rose by 1.95 percent while BPI, Globe and ICTSI rose at a modest pace.