The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) plunged further on Friday as investors continued to worry over the impact of the recent typhoon and the hawkish tone of the Federal Reserve.
The benchmark PSEi tumbled by 3.26 percent, or 193.18 points, to close at 5,741.07 while the wider All-Shares index fell 2.6 percent, or 82.98 points, to sit at 3,107.90 by the closing bell.
This was the fourth consecutive trading day that the PSEi stayed in bear market territory. A bear market means the PSEi has declined by 20 percent from the recent high. PSEi is down 23.98 percent from its recent peak.
“[The] agricultural damage caused by Typhoon Karding … adversely affected the sentiment,” said Claire Alviar, Philstocks Financial Inc. assistant manager for research and online engagement.
She pegged the support level at 5,700. Support level is where demand usually comes in to protect the index from further falling.
“Philippine shares hit the 5,700 level as investors weighed concerns over future rate-hiking decisions from the Fed and the impact on the market,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan added.
All indices were in the red, with holding firms shedding the most with a 4.03-percent decline. This was followed by the property and service indices, which dipped by 3.57 percent and 3.35 percent, respectively.About 1.01 billion shares valued at P6.69 billion were traded. Losers outpaced winners, 154-51, while 37 issues were unchanged.
International Container Terminal Services Inc. was the most actively traded, with its shares dropping by 10.15 percent to P156.60 each.
SM Prime Holdings followed as it plunged 5.64 percent to P30.10; Ayala Land Inc., down 1.08 percent to P22.85; BDO Unibank Inc., down 2.28 percent to P111.50; Converge ICT Solutions, down 7.49 percent to P13.10; and SM Investments Corp., down 4.61 percent to P725.