Philippine stocks fall over news of weak Japan trade, Wall Street decline

Photo taken from pse.com.ph

MANILA, Philippines—Local stocks fell sharply on Wednesday, tracking sluggish regional markets, which were weighed down by weak Japan trade data and an overnight decline in Wall Street.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 54.66 points or 1.05 percent to close at 5,152.15.

All counters ended lower but the most battered were the cyclical financial and property counters, which fell by 1.88 percent and 1.55 percent, respectively.

There were over twice as many decliners for every single gainer. Value turnover amounted to P5.87 billion.

Dealers said the local market has been undergoing a correction coinciding with the “Ghost Month,” which started last Friday. The period is the time when Chinese people consider it unlucky to make big bets, also coinciding with the time when most Western investors go on lengthy summer vacation breaks.

The index was weighed down most by ALI (-2.47 percent), URC (-2.29 percent), BDO (-3.02 percent), BPI (-2.9 percent) and Meralco (-2.78 percent). Likewise contributing to the decline were Metrobank, AC, AP, ICTSI, AGI, AEV, EDC, Globe, DMCI and MPI.

Among the non-index stocks, a notable decliner was FLI (-6.06 percent).

On the other hand, the few index stocks that bucked the downtrend were SMIC (+1.09 percent) and Megaworld (+0.89 percent).

SMIC recently obtained an increased weight in the MSCI main Philippine index.

Another notable decliner for the day was Abacus Consolidated (+14.29 percent).

Across the region, stock markets were mostly lower due to a weaker than expected Japan export data that jacked up its trade deficit to 517.4 billion yen versus the consensus estimate of 270 billion yen.

At the local market, there was no trading on Monday and Tuesday in observance of the end of Ramadan and in commemoration of Ninoy Aquino Day.

In a research note, Metrobank said the domestic market would “move sideways with a downward bias as investors look for firmer leads.” It added that “lethargic” trade was also expected on the back of the shortened trading week.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Index lost 68 points or 0.51 percent to close at 13,203.58.