Concerns over ‘event risks’ pull down PSE share prices

Philippine stocks sank Thursday as investors took money off the table in view of uncertain developments around the world such as the UK elections and a congressional testimony by a former FBI director fired by US president Donald Trump.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed down 0.55 percent, or 43.69 points, to 7,958.63 while the broader All Shares index was lower by 0.48 percent to 4,737.40.

A total of 1.28 billion shares valued at P9.2 billion changed hands Thursday. There were 97 decliners against 91 gainers while 50 companies closed unchanged.

Data from the PSE showed that only the industrial subsector bucked the downtrend, gaining 0.07 percent. Losers were led by holding firms, down 0.72 percent, and financials, down 0.7 percent.

“Markets took some necessary precaution as today is dubbed as Super Thursday, also called Triple Threat Thursday,” Luis Gerado Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development, said Thursday.

“Investors are awaiting the outcome of a trifecta of ‘event risks’ in the form of the UK general election, the ECB’s ‘allegedly hawkish’ decision, and [ former FBI director] James Comey’s Congressional testimony, traders are already putting their hard hats on in a state of self-induced panic,” he added.