Stocks down, Treasury bill rates up

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended slightly lower on Monday, moving in lockstep with the region as US President Donald Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods, a sign that a trade war would further escalate and dampen global economic growth prospects.

The PSEi was down 0.03 percent, or 2.49 points, to 7,596.15 by the closing bell. Stocks elsewhere in the region, led by Hong Kong and Shanghai, dropped as investors sought refuge in safer assets. The Philippine broader All-Shares index was also down 0.34 percent to 4,640.71 yesterday.

Subsectors, however, showed a mixed bag despite the overall decline in the index. Financials, services and property sank on Monday while industrial, holding firms as well as mining and oil gained.

A total of 1.4 billion shares valued at P7.4 billion changed hands on Monday. Data from the PSE showed that 124 companies declined as 62 advanced and 55 closed unchanged.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of the Treasury partially awarded the T-bills offered Monday as it capped rising rates for the 91-day debt paper amid expectations of another aggressive interest rate hike by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas this month.

The Treasury sold just P2.47 billion of the P4 billion it offered for the benchmark three-month IOUs. The debt paper fetched an average rate of 3.549 percent, up from 3.225 percent last week.

As for the 182-day T-bonds, all P5 billion were awarded at 4.353 percent, up from 4.101 percent a week ago.

All P6 billion of the 364-day treasury bonds were also sold. The IOU fetched an average yield of 5.137 percent, up from 4.899 percent during the previous auction.

Still, the Treasury said the rates accepted were nonetheless lower than secondary market rates.

In all, the Treasury sold P13.47 billion in T-bills out of the P15-billion offered in total.

Tenders from banks reached P21.9 billion.