Philippine stocks ease down as investors lock gains

Philippine stocks finished the trading week on a losing note as investors pocketed gains and stayed cautious ahead of the release of the domestic growth data.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index on Friday dipped by 0.28 percent, or 16.19 points, to close at 5,761.95.

The broader All Shares index also slipped by 0.35 percent, or 11.16 points, to 3,218.31.

Financials hold out

All sectors, except for the financials, ended in the red, with services as well as mining and oil recording the biggest drop.

Trading remained tepid, with net value turnover logging at P5.52 billion.

“The local bourse ended lower, tracking weakness across global markets that weighed on overall investor sentiment,” Luis Limlingan, head of sales at Regina Capital Development Corp., said.

“Investors also decided to take a cautious stance ahead of the release of Q3 GDP data next week,” said Japhet Tantiangco, research manager at Philstocks Financial.

Tantiangco said investors anticipate the economic growth last quarter “to have remained anemic.”

The Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department earlier said that the Philippine economic growth rate could fall below 2.5 percent in the July to September period amid hot inflation, high borrowing costs and weak private demand.

For full-year 2026, the Marcos administration hopes to see the domestic economy grow within the range of 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent.