Stocks posted mixed results Wednesday, with the 30-company benchmark index ending in the red and other shares registering gains, after a report showed fund managers are hoarding more money in cash amid uncertainty over the trajectory of central bank stimulus globally.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company bellwether, lost 4 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 7,546.01 Wednesday. This reduced total gains this year to 8.5 percent.
The broader all-share index advanced 89 points, or 2 percent, to settle at 4,663.29, on a value turnover of P8.9 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 110 to 67, while 50 issues were unchanged.
Eight of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by property developer Megaworld Corp. which climbed 2.2 percent to P4.60 and retailer Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. which also rose 2.2 percent to P78.50.
Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. rose 1.8 percent to P86.90, while food manufacturer Universal Robina Corp. gained 1.5 percent to P183.
Meanwhile, Asian markets mostly fell on Wednesday as uncertainty over the future of central bank monetary policy weighed on buying interest while warnings of an extended oil glut sank energy firms.
The region’s traders were given a rocky lead from Wall Street where all three main indexes ended more than one percent lower as a plunge in crude prices shredded already tender nerves.
Investors are trying to understand a slew of contradictory signals from authorities around the world, with the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan preparing to hold crucial policy meetings next week.
The gatherings come at a time of increasing anxiety that central bankers are considering winding back on years of cheap cash that have helped fuel a rally in global equities.
While the Fed is considering an interest rate hike, which some say could come as early as this month, the Bank of Japan has been reticent in providing concrete promises of any new stimulus despite weak growth at home.
“Investors are waking up to the fact that valuations are high and these record-low interest rates won’t be with us forever,” Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners in Wellington, told Bloomberg News.
“There’s a lot of event risk coming up with the US election, several central bank meetings and oil prices are still looking shaky. Markets had become dangerously reliant on central bank support and this is a bit of a wake-up call that this won’t always be the case.”
However, while there are concerns about monetary policy, a report in the respected Nikkei business daily said BoJ policymakers were considering cutting borrowing costs further into negative territory, sending banking shares tumbling in Tokyo. The city’s Nikkei index ended 0.7 percent lower.
The BoJ report, and talk of a US rate hike, sent the dollar rallying against the yen. In afternoon trade the greenback bought 103.28 yen from 102.59 yen in New York. The euro rose to 115.00 yen from 115.07 yen. With Bloomberg, AFP