Stocks fell for a third day, ahead of the release of third-quarter income earnings of listed companies and as uncertainties including the US presidential election on Nov. 8 and the trajectory for stimulus from the Fed and the European Central Bank weigh on investors’ minds.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, lost 40 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 7,609.31 Monday. This reduced total gains this year to 9.5 percent.
The heavier index, representing all shares, also fell 19 points, or 0.4 percent, to settle at 4,498.95, on a value turnover of P4.7 billion.
Seven of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by DoubleDragon Properties Corp. which climbed 4.4 percent to P58.20 and Megawide Construction Corp. which rose 3.5 percent to P16.52.
Meanwhile, Asian stocks pared their best weekly performance in a month, led lower by developers and banks, as investors braced for a busy week of earnings reports across Japan, China and the US.
“Earnings is the key metric for investors,” said Matthew Sherwood, head of investment strategy in Sydney at Perpetual Ltd., which manages about $21 billion. “Meanwhile, there are a number of important macro events which are holding the market back, including the US election early next month and key Fed and ECB meetings in December.”
The Asian gauge has failed to break above its most recent high on Sept. 22 as uncertainties including the US presidential election on Nov. 8 and the trajectory for stimulus from the Fed and the European Central Bank weigh on investors’ minds. The measure now trades at 14.5 times projected earnings, compared with its three-year average multiple of 13.6.
Shanghai climbed on hopes China will unveil fresh economy-boosting measures, while the dollar’s early strength waned through the day.
Chinese growth has leveled out this year after a painful slowdown, but there are hopes officials will push on with spending measures and reforms, particularly of giant state-owned firms.
“Stabilization in [China’s] third-quarter economic data has provided support to the broader market,” Wang Zheng, Shanghai-based chief investment officer at Jingxi Investment Management, told Bloomberg News.
“Some big state-owned enterprises are doing well as there is speculation that the government will accelerate their consolidation to improve efficiency and boost infrastructure spending to further bolster economic growth.” With AFP, Bloomberg