The stock market fell Friday for the third straight day on extended bargain hunting, taking its cue from losses in Wall Street overnight.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index lost 26.03 points, or 0.4 percent, to 7,238.52 on a value turnover of P5.4 billion. Losers overwhelmed gainers, 114 to 67, with 55 issues unchanged.
Nickel Asia Corp., the biggest nickel miner, slumped 13.7 percent to P7.33, while LT Group Inc. of tobacco and airline tycoon Lucio Tan slipped 2.7 percent to P12.20.
SM Prime Holdings Inc., the largest integrated property company, dropped 1.3 percent to P29.80, while Globe Telecom Inc., the second-biggest telecommunications firm, declined 2.3 percent to P1,700.
Wall Street ended in the red overnight as a post-election equities rally—driven by hopes for big stimulus spending under Donald Trump—appears to be running out of steam.
Investors were disappointed that the US president-elect did not give details about his plans for the economy when he held his first official media briefing this week.
There was muted reaction to end-of-the-year data from China showing the world’s number-two economy was still struggling on the trade front, with uncertainty over Trump’s upcoming presidency.
After a global rally fueled by hopes his election victory would see a boost to the US economy, trading floors are turning more quiet with talk that the surge may have been overdone.
Among the main losers in the recent pull-back is the dollar, which soared on expectations the real estate tycoon’s plans for big spending and tax cuts would fan inflation and force the Federal Reserve to lift interest rates.
The dollar just last week was hovering around 118.60 yen but on Thursday dropped below 114 yen after markets were left with scan detail on the president-elect’s plans for boosting US growth.
Equity traders were given a weak lead from Wall Street, where the Dow’s drive for the 20,000-point mark has stalled.
Tokyo’s Nikkei ended 0.8 higher after losing more than one percent Thursday but Sydney lost 0.8 percent and Seoul 0.5 percent. Singapore added 0.8 percent but Wellington and Taipei were lower.
Hong Kong added 0.4 percent in the afternoon but Shanghai closed down 0.2 percent. There was little excitement over news that Chinese exports fell more than expected last month while imports came in largely as expected.
Figures for the whole year showed exports down 7.7 percent and imports dropping 5.5 percent.
The greenback has recovered slightly but remains under pressure while it was also down against the euro and pound.
“This is really a pause that we were looking to get even a month ago,” Philip Guarco, global head of fixed-income strategy at JPMorgan Private Bank in New York, told Bloomberg TV.
“Rates had moved too far, too fast so we had this sort of reflation exuberance. I think we consolidate here and just wait to see what’s going to happen in terms of execution.” With AFP
