PH stocks down anew; investors stay cautious

Philippine stocks sank anew on Monday, as investors stayed on the sidelines amid fears over the fallout of a trade war led by the United States. Asian stocks also ended weaker.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index closed down 0.48 percent, or 38.42 points, to 7,932.38 on Monday. It briefly slid below the 7,900 level— losing as much as 1.7 percent to 7,832.11 yesterday. The broader all shares index was down 0.57 percent.

Luis Gerado Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development, said funds winding down their portfolios ahead of the long weekend contributed to the decline. He said this was to “safeguard against volatility.”

The industrial subsector, which gained 0.35 percent, was the only subindex to close positive amid a sea of red. Losers were led by services, down 1.55 percent, followed by property, down 0.77 percent and financials, lower by 0.61 percent.

Data from the PSE showed a total of 1.75 billion shares valued at P6.33 billion changing hands yesterday. There were 65 gainers while 138 companies declined and another 41 closed unchanged.

BDO Unibank Inc. was the most actively traded on Monday as it dropped 1.43 percent to P138 per share.

It was followed by Ayala Corp., which gained 3.49 percent to P950, Ayala Land Inc., down 0.62 percent to P40.10, Now Corp., down 15.64 percent to P6.85, and Alliance Global Group Inc., down 1.85 percent to P12.74 per share.