The local stock barometer tested the 8,100 mark in intraday trading on Wednesday but failed to stay above this barrier on fresh global trade jitters.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) hit a high of 8,122.39 but ended closer to the intraday low of 8,092.26. The index shed 0.92 point, or 0.01 percent, to close at 8,092.68, slipping for the first time in two sessions.
“The main index ended the day almost unchanged with trading volumes picking up. There is still the possibility of testing the upper level of the range at 8,150 before the end of the week. However, local investors still lack confidence and if not for the foreign inflows today, it would have ended lower,” AAA Equities head of research Christopher Mangun said in a research note.
Across the region, sentiment was mostly gloomy as the United States threatened to slap tariffs on $4 billion of additional EU goods amid a dispute on aircraft subsidies. The United States also announced tariffs on steel from Vietnam that was originally produced in South Korea or Taiwan, arguing that these circumvented US antidumping and antisubsidy duties.
As all these new trade concerns emerged, the positive impact from the recent US-China trade war truce waned.
“We remain firm in our view on the PSEi that it should continue to move to its resistance at its recent high of 8,139 over the next few days—a breakout may not be likely just yet, however, as we wait for Friday’s inflation data,” stockbrokerage Papa Securities said.
At the local market, the mining/oil counter was the most battered at the stock market, declining by 1.61 percent. The financial, holding firm and services counters also slipped.