The stock market fell for the seventh straight day Thursday, weighed down by down by the specter of a US rate hike next month.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index sank 73.90 points, or 1.1 percent, to P6,909.82 on a value turnover of P6.5 billion. Losers and gainers were even at 77 each, while 50 issues were unchanged.
SM Prime Holdings Inc. of retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr., the biggest integrated property company, dropped 3.4 percent to P21.25, while Manila Electric Co., the largest retailer of electricity, tumbled 5.5 percent to P325 on profit-taking.
Conglomerate Ayala Corp. declined 2.7 percent to P729, while unit Globe Telecom Inc., the second-biggest telecommunications firm, lost 2.5 percent to P2,032.
Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., the second-largest lender in terms of assets, sank 4.5 percent to P80.70.
Hong Kong, meanwhile, was the stand-out stock market Thursday after five days of losses while Asian traders await a speech from Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen hoping for clues about US interest rates.
Australia’s dollar put on more than one percent against the greenback thanks to a surprise drop in the country’s jobless rate but a recent rally in some other emerging currencies petered out.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong surged more than two percent, having given up three percent in the past five outings.
Internet giant and market heavyweight Tencent led the charge after posting record profit for July-September, while IT firm Lenovo surged more than four percent on better-than-forecast earnings.
Most Chinese firms listed in the city were also up, with the index that tracks such firms climbing for the first time in four days on hopes Beijing will introduce new measures to boost the mainland economy.
Traders will be keeping a close watch on Yellen’s comments later Thursday as bets on a December rate hike increase following Friday’s forecast-beating US jobs report that reinforced recent data showing the world’s biggest economy is picking up.