Investors turn bearish on US-China uncertainty

THE BOURSE on Tuesday failed to sustain upward momentum of the past three trading days due to the lack of fresh positive news on the Sino-US trade front which weighed on Wall Street and China’s market.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gave up 43.98 points or 0.55% to close at 7,840.31 yesterday, while the broader all shares index slid 18.77 points or 0.39% to 4,740.32.

“Philippine stocks drifted lower as investors concluded the trade deal with China announced Friday will not lead to significantly lower trade barriers or foster global economic growth in the near term,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said via text.

A Bloomberg report said Beijing wanted more discussion on details of the deal before any agreement is signed.

Papa Securities Corp. Sales Associate Gabriel Jose F. Perez said in an e-mail that “[i]t was another weak day for the PSEi after the lull in US markets last night also dampened optimism today.”

Reuters reported that Wall Street slipped on Monday on uncertainties in Sino-US trade talks, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dropping 0.11%, 0.14% and 0.1%, respectively.

Asia was a mixed bunch. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix indices gained 1.87% and 1.56%, respectively, while South Korea’s KOSPI and India’s S&P BSE Sensex added 0.04% and 0.8%, respectively. On the other hand, Shanghai SE Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell by 0.56% and 0.07%, respectively.

In a reversal from the previous day, only one of the six sectoral indices at home ended with gains — financials, which increased by 3.79 points or 0.2% to 1,829.42.

The rest lost: property by 43.56 points or 1.04% to 4,113.3, holding firms by 57.29 points or 0.74% to 7,646.83, mining & oil by 62.15 points or 0.68% to 9,029.8, services by 5.14 points or 0.33% to 1,523.98 and industrials by 4.47 points or 0.04% to 10,701.32.

The most actively traded stock was Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), with 73.17 million shares worth P365.36 million changing hands, after the company announced it is postponing the planned initial public offering of its hospital unit. MPIC’s share price went down 16 centavos or 3.16% to close at P4.90 apiece.

Others that lost included SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (-2.81% to P38.10 apiece); SM Investments Corp. (-1.49% to P995) and PLDT, Inc. (-1.43% to P1,100 each).

Tuesday’s list of 20 most active stocks showed six that gained: Phinma Energy Corp. (11.3% to P2.56 apiece); Alliance Global Group, Inc. (3.8% to P11.48); BDO Unibank, Inc. (0.81% to P148.50 apiece); Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (0.29% to P68.50); Robinsons Land Corp. (0.2% to P25.50) and Ayala Corp. (0.11% to P878.50 each).

Volume increased to 631.01 million shares worth P4.60 billion from Monday’s 479.84 million worth P3.76 billion.

Tuesday saw P347.81 net foreign sales, a reversal from Monday’s P68.06-million net buying. —