PSEi feels punch of Trump’s tariff blitz
The Philippine bourse fell deeper into red territory, joining its Asian neighbors and Wall Street, as traders looked for cover from recession talks following United States’ President Donald Trump’s decision to unleash a storm of tariffs on imported goods.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) closed on Friday below the 6,100 level as it lost 1 percent, or 61.54 points, to 6,084.19. This is the PSEi’s lowest closing since March 4, during which Trump first threatened to impose a 25-percent tariff on goods coming from the European Union.
The broader All Shares Index, on the other hand, shed 0.57 percent, or 20.97 points, to close at 3,643.44.
Foreigners opted to sell their stocks, with outflows totaling P738.51 million.
A total of 1.72 billion shares worth P11.7 billion changed hands, stock exchange data also showed. Excluding block sales, value turnover was at P5.14 billion, or below the year-to-date average of P5.28 billion.
World reaction
It was the same story all around the world. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 2.8 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.9 percent.
In Trump’s home turf, the S&P 500 suffered its steepest one-day loss since 2020.
Japhet Tantiangco, research head at Philstocks Financial Inc., said investors continued to digest America’s reciprocal tariffs “and its negative side effect on the global economy.”
“Worries over the impact of the tariffs on global supply chain, international trade and overall global economic performance caused investors to sell positions,” Tantiangco said.
The local bourse’s decline also came despite inflation cooling to 1.8 percent in March from 2.1 percent in February on the back of easing price pressures from food and nonalcoholic beverages.
All subsectors ended in the red, with mining and oil firms recording the steepest drop. Service firms also dropped due to the 4.59-percent decline in International Container Terminal Services Inc.’s (ICTSI) shares to P336.80 each. The ports operator has sizable multinational operations, including Asia-Pacific, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Ayala top-traded stock
Ayala Corp. was the most actively traded stock as it gained 0.88 percent to P571, followed by ICTSI; SM Investments Corp., down 0.64 percent to P780; BDO Unibank Inc., flat at P155.60; and PLDT Inc., down 1.2 percent to P1,235 each.
Others were Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., down 1.81 percent to P73.05; Ayala Land Inc., down 0.21 percent to P23.70; Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 0.67 percent to P133; Jollibee Foods Corp., up 0.09 percent to P224.20; and DITO CME Holdings Corp., which surged by 16.28 percent to P1.50 following management changes.
Losers outnumbered gainers, 102 to 74, while 56 companies closed unchanged, stock exchange data also showed.
