The stock market retreated Thursday, tracking a Wall Street slump in the latest rout of world markets.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index lost 85.37 points, or 1.3 percent, to 6,408.76 on a value turnover of P5.26 billion. Losers overwhelmed gainers, 149 to 27, with 35 issues unchanged.
SM Prime Holdings Inc. of retail tycoon Henry Sy, the biggest integrated property developer, tumbled 3.6 percent to P19.90, while rival Megaworld Corp., the third-largest real estate company, slumped 4.1 percent to P3.72.
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the biggest telecommunications firm, fell 2.1 percent to P1,900, while JG Summit Holdings Inc. of industrialist John Gokongwei sank 3.7 percent to P64.
Security Bank Corp., the fifth largest lender in terms of capitalization, surged 6.7 percent to P144 on news that Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ will invest nearly $774 million in the local bank..
The transaction, still subject to regulatory approvals, would be the largest equity investment by a foreign lender in a Philippine bank, securities analysts told AFP.
A disclosure by listed Security Bank said the 36.92 billion-peso (about $744 million) investment would buy the Japanese lender a 20-percent stake in one of thePhilippines’ bigger banks.
“They are looking to expand their horizons especially as returns on their domestic market are so low,” Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist for top Philippine lender BDO Unibank, told AFP.
Shanghai stocks, meanwhile, saw another day of volatility Thursday, swinging sharply from big early losses to end on a high while most other Asian bourses slumped
Any hope Wednesday’s regional rally might presage a recovery from 2016’s bloodbath was wiped out with an immediate sell-off in the opening minutes.
Tokyo plunged almost four percent in the first hour and Shanghai fell below its lowest levels of the summer rout. With AFP