PSEi slumps as Credit Suisse woes bring markets back to familiar ground

MANILA  –The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) struggled anew on Thursday as large banks were sold down while United States and Swiss monetary authorities moved to stabilize their private financial institutions.

The PSEi tumbled 0.95 percent, or 61.19 points, to 6,404.91 while the broader All Shares index shed 1 percent, or 34.70 points, to 3,443.82 by the closing bell.

US stocks were battered overnight as troubles at Swiss megabank Credit Suisse cast a pall on an already nervous market following the collapse of US lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

Wall Street down as Credit Suisse sparks fresh bank selloff

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority and the Swiss National Bank (SNB) issued a statement saying Credit Suisse was compliant with strict capital and liquidity requirements.

Credit Suisse said it was taking decisive action to “preemptively” strengthen its balance sheet and would exercise an option to borrow up to $54 billion from SNB. It would also repurchase debt securities worth up to $3.2 billion.

Swiss central bank throws financial lifeline to Credit Suisse after shares pummeled

Michael Ricafort, chief economist at the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said this would provide the Swiss lender with a “liquidity backstop if necessary.”

According to US bank JPMorgan Chase & Co., a US Federal Reserve emergency loan program may also inject up to $2 trillion into the US banking system in a bid to shore up confidence and avert a more widespread financial crisis.

At the local bourse, the financial sector led losers after dropping 1.70 percent. It was followed by industrial (-1.31 percent), mining and oil (-1.12 percent), services (-1.05 percent), property (-0.73 percent) and holding firms (-0.40 percent).

A total of 1.04 billion shares valued at P6.6 billion changed hands. Foreigners were mostly sellers. INQ