Recession fears drag PSEI down toward 6,600
Panicked traders pulled the bourse down near the 6,600 level on Friday and erased the previous day’s rally as fears of a recession abroad caused selloffs at home.
By the closing bell, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) tumbled by 1.32 percent, or 88.53 points, to 6,605.30.
The broader All Shares Index likewise slipped by 0.89 percent, or 32.28 points, to 3,596.90.
A total of 529.96 million shares worth P4.98 billion changed hands, stock exchange data showed.
Luis Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development Corp., said the bourse suffered the same fate as its Asian peers “on growing fears of a potential recession.”
Claire Alviar, research analyst at Philstocks Financial Inc., added that “dismal economic data” in the United States caused investors to worry that the Federal Reserve “might now be late in easing monetary policy, potentially leading to recession.”
Reports showed that manufacturing activity in the United States slipped to an eight-month low, while employment prospects have also dampened.
Back in the Philippines, all sectors were in the red, with services-focused firms seeing the steepest decline at 1.97 percent.
Razon-led International Container Terminal Services Inc. was the most actively traded stock as it shed 2.78 percent to P350 each.
It was followed by Globe Telecom Inc., up by 2.59 percent to P2,218 after announcing that the Ayala group’s AC Ventures Holdings Inc. will acquire an additional 8-percent stake in GCash parent firm Mynt for P22.9 billion.
Ayala Land Inc. was down 1.7 percent to P28.90; BDO Unibank, down 2.02 percent to P140.80; and Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 2.48 percent to P121.70.
Other actively traded stocks were SM Investments Corp., down 0.66 percent to P901; Jollibee Foods Corp., down 1.46 percent to P229.40; and Ayala Corp., down 0.25 percent to P590.Losers overwhelmed gainers, 112 to 59, while 53 companies closed unchanged.
