PH shares dip as investors grapple with Fed’s next move

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) opened the week in the red territory as a more aggressive monetary policy tightening from the Federal Reserve worried investors.

The PSEi fell by 0.36 percent, or 24.52 points, to finish at 6,716.88 while the broader all-shares index shed 0.46 percent, or 16.67 points, to close at 3,585.85.

“Philippine shares started the week slipping into the red as investors continued to bet that the Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy aggressively to combat surging inflation,” Regina Capital Development Corp. managing director Luis Limlingan said.

Timson Securities Inc. head of online trading Marc Kebinson Lood added investors sold off their positions as they await the Fed’s move, noting that yesterday’s trading resulted in net foreign selling of P287 million.

“Crude oil [price increasing] to $120 also dampened local market sentiment as this will further contribute to a rapid increase [in Philippine] inflation,” he added.

All subsectors were down except for property, which climbed by 2.08 percent. Mining and oil index had the steepest fall at 2.15 percent, followed by holding firms and industrial at 1.61 percent and 1.01 percent, respectively.

About 1.86 billion shares valued at P5.94 billion were traded. Decliners led advancers, 134 to 60, while 47 stocks were unchanged.

SM Prime Holdings’ shares were the most actively traded, as it rose by 4.09 percent to P39.45 each.

It was followed by solar firm Raslag Corp., up 2.5 percent to P2.05 on its first trading day.

Limlingan said Raslag shares were well-received by investors, whom he said were “receptive” of the company’s expansion plans amid the rising demand for alternative sources of energy.

“In general, the global pressures to take a hard shift to renewables to ease the effects of climate change are shifting the limelight to alternative sources of energy—boding well for Raslag and its business model,” he added.

—Tyrone Jasper C. Piad INQ