Investors retreated to the sidelines after Donald Trump, who is returning to the White House, made pronouncements on imposing tariffs that can stoke inflation, pushing the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) into red territory.
The benchmark PSEi dropped by 0.63 percent, or 43.14 points, to close at 6,806.86 while the broader All-Shares index slipped 0.4 percent, or 15.2 points, to settle at 3,796.54.
READ: Most Asian markets drop, dollar gains as Trump fires tariff warning
“US president-elect Donald Trump’s remarks via social media saying he would impose 25-percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10-percent tariff on China dampened sentiment,” Philstocks Financial Inc. senior research analyst Japhet Tantiangco said.
In addition, Tantiangco said traders were also worried about the weak peso still trading around the P59 level against the US dollar.
All subsectors were in the red except for financials which rose by 0.54 percent. The services index fell the deepest with a 2.68-percent decline.
Over 587.79 million shares valued at P4.6 billion were traded. Losers led gainers, 110-82, while 43 issues were unchanged.
Top traded shares were that of International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 6.02 percent to P390 each. INQ