Stocks fell a fourth day, amid thin trading as investors trod warily after the US Labor Department said Friday that fewer jobs than expected were created in the world’s top economy in September.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, dropped 43 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 7,534.71 Monday, the lowest in nearly four months or since June 15 when it settled at 7,501.65. Despite the loss, the bellwether was still up 8.4 percent since the start of the year.
The broader all-share index also declined 14 points, or 0.3 percent, to settle at 4,489.69, on a value turnover P5 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 103 to 60, while 53 issues were unchanged.
Six of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by Bloomberry Resorts Corp. which climbed 7.3 percent to P4.86 and PhilWeb Corp. which advanced 5.3 percent to P8.10.
Meanwhile, Asian markets ended mixed Monday. The US Labor Department said Friday that fewer jobs than expected were created in the world’s top economy in September.
The news left all three main indexes on Wall Street in negative territory and sent the dollar lower against the yen Friday.
However, analysts said the figures were unlikely to prevent the Federal Reserve raising interest rates by year’s end.
Singapore and Wellington eased, while Bangkok tumbled three percent after officials said King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s health was “not stable” in an update that raised fears for the 88-year-old.
There are fears his demise could lead to economic instability, especially as there is no official discussion on how the country will handle his passing.
Tokyo, Hong Kong and Taipei were closed for public holidays.
Seoul ended up 0.2 percent but Samsung Electronics was battered by news that US telecoms firm AT&T and German rival T-Mobile had stopped exchanges of the Note 7 pending probes into reports some replacement handsets had caught fire.
Samsung announced a recall of millions of gadgets last month after complaints that some had exploded owing to a battery problem. The firm said it would exchange the devices but there have been reports that the batteries in the new handsets have also been involved in fires.
Samsung fell almost four percent in morning trade before recovering in the afternoon to end down 1.5 percent.
Asian sentiment was given a lift by the emergence of a tape of Donald Trump making lewd comments about women, which analysts said could deal a severe blow to his presidential hopes. With AFP, Bloomberg