Market declines; Jollibee slumps

The stock market slipped Thursday in thin trading, with investors staying on the sidelines ahead of the policy meeting of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas late in the day.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 13.76 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,933.71 on a value turnover P4.2 billion. Losers beat gainers, 107 to 78, with 55 issues unchanged.

Jollibee Foods Corp. slumped 5 percent to P202.60 after disclosing that it was investing up to $7.8 million in a joint venture company that would develop and operate Tim Ho Wan stores in Shanghai, China.

Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. of the Aboitiz Group declined 2.9 percent to P52.80, while DMCI Holdings Inc. of the Consunji Group dropped 2.8 percent to P7.68.

Casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp. of tycoon Enriquez Razon Jr., however, rose 3.1 percent to P11.30.

The rest of Asian markets fluctuated Thursday with investors shifting cautiously following another Wall Street record as Donald Trump hailed progress in US-China trade talks, while eyes were also on Hong Kong after another night of violent protests.

Tokyo fell 0.8 percent after data showed Japan’s economy grew at a slower pace than forecast in the third quarter as it was hit by trade wars.

Taipei eased 0.2 percent, Singapore shed 0.3 percent, Jakarta sank more than one percent and Mumbai was off 0.1 percent.

But Shanghai added 0.2 percent, Sydney rose 0.6 percent, Seoul edged up 0.4 percent and Wellington put on 0.6 percent.

Hong Kong tumbled 0.9 percent following another night of unrest in the city, which has seen a pick-up in violence since the weekend as protesters blocked roads in certain districts—closing businesses—and disrupted public transport for a fourth day.

The standoff has hammered the Hang Seng Index—which had lost around four percent by Wednesday night—while there are concerns about possible intervention by Beijing.

Trading floors were edgy as a volatile week continued, with very few details from Washington and Beijing on negotiations for their mini tariffs agreement.

Trump’s comments on Wednesday that “our trade agreement with China is moving along very rapidly” provided some support, though observers said markets were looking for something concrete to buy into.

“Let’s not forget that as long ago as June we were told that a US-China trade deal was 90 percent of the way there,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

“Yet since then we’ve seen new tariffs applied to Chinese goods, albeit with some exemptions, with a new set of tariffs still expected to kick in on December 15.”

Equities have seen healthy rallies in recent weeks on optimism the two sides would soon reach a partial deal as part of a wider agreement to end their long-running trade war that has hit the global economy.

Michelle Girard, chief US economist at NatWest Markets, told Bloomberg TV: “We’ve been pushing back on a lot of this trade optimism and it’s felt kind of lonely because markets have certainly embraced the news that we might have a short-term deal. With AFP