US tariffs salvo weighs down PSEi
MANILA, Philippines — The escalating trade war in the West continued to spook investors on Tuesday, with the local bourse easing downward near the 6,000 level.
By the end of the session, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) lost 0.52 percent, or 31.81 points, to 6,064.16.
The broader All Shares Index likewise shed 0.4 percent or 14.55 points, to close at 3,640.45.
READ: Stocks slide as US consumer confidence tumbles, tech slumps
A total of 634.67 million shares worth P5.17 billion changed hands, stock exchange data showed. Foreigners continued to be net sellers, with foreign outflows totaling P563.8 million.
Luis Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development Corp., said the PSEi’s decline followed US President Donald Trump’s pronouncement that tariffs on Canada and Mexico “will go forward.”
Only banks and property firms registered gains among the sub-sectors, albeit nearly flat, buoyed by index heavyweights BDO Unibank Inc. (up 2.48 percent to P144.50) and SM Prime Holdings Inc. (up 0.43 percent to P23.50)
Universal Robina Corp. was the top-traded stock as it dipped by 4.35 percent to P67 each.
Following were International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 0.12 percent to P340; Ayala Land Inc., flat at P22.90; SM Investments Corp., down 0.77 percent to P774; and DigiPlus Interactive Corp., down 3.31 percent to P36.55 per share.
Other actively traded stocks included Bank of the Philippine Islands (down 0.38 percent to P130), Jollibee Foods Corp. (up 1.97 percent to P259), and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (down 3.27 percent to P72.50).
Losers outnumbered gainers, 125 to 63, while 57 companies closed unchanged, stock exchange data also showed.
