Philippine stocks closed lower on Thursday with property shares taking a beating amid concerns over inflation and rising interest rates.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) tumbled 1.52 percent, or 102.22 points, to 6,609.27 while the broader All Shares index fell 1.02 percent, or 36.47 points, to 3,549.19.
Large developers such as Ayala Land Inc., Robinsons Land Corp. and SM Prime Holdings slid lower on Thursday.
This was after Jerome Powell, chair of the powerful US Federal Reserve, warned that interest may go higher for an extended period of time, which could also prompt the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to match the hikes.
Jonathan Ravelas, managing director at eManagement for Business and Marketing Services, said sentiments could also turn bearish should the PSEi stay below the 6,700 level.
He pegged the next major support level from 6,500 to 6,300 for the PSEi.
Trading activity was relatively thin with 880.6 million shares valued at about P5 billion changing hands while net foreign selling hit P438.3 million, stock exchange data showed.
All subsectors closed in negative territory led by the property sector’s 2.86-percent decline.
Holding firms shed 1.69 percent, followed by mining and oil (-1.42 percent), services (-0.80 percent), industrial (-0.63 percent), and financials (-0.49 percent).
BDO Unibank Inc. was the top traded stock as it climbed 0.23 percent to P128.30 a share.
It was followed by Ayala Land Inc., down 4.09 percent to P27; International Container Terminal Services Inc., up 0.66 percent to P212.40; Globe Telecom, down 2.12 percent to P1,800; and SM Investments Corp., down 2.02 percent to P871 per share.
Robinsons Land was down 2.05 percent to P14.34; Semirara Mining and Power Corp., down 4.68 percent to P28.50; SM Prime Holdings Inc., down 3.05 percent to P34.95; Metro Pacific Investments Corp., down 2.86 percent to P4.07; and PLDT. Inc., down 3.4 percent to P1,280 per share.