Stocks fell for a third day, as rising oil prices, accompanied by peso depreciation, weighed on investor sentiment and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas floated the possibility it would end monetary tightening in May.
The PSE index, the 30-company benchmark of the Philippine Stock Exchange, went down by 20 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 6,448.87 as five of the six subsectors retreated. It was also down 1.79 percent this year.
The broader all-share index also slipped 8 points, or 0.25 percent, to settle at 3,446.52 on a value turnover of P5.30 billion. Losers outmatched gainers, 124 to 65, while 44 shares were unchanged.
Five of the 10 most active stocks ended in the green, led by GT Capital Holdings Inc. which rose 1.90 percent to P494.20 and PLDT Inc. which picked up 1.59 percent to P1,280.00.
The peso also tumbled for a third day, closing at 55.26 against the US dollar, compared to 55.22 Wednesday. The local currency was still up 0.89 percent this year.
Asian markets were mixed Thursday as traders weighed data showing US inflation falling against minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy meeting indicating officials foresaw a recession at the end of the year.
A smaller-than-forecast rise in prices last month provided some much-needed hope to investors that a year of monetary tightening was finally showing results, but analysts said the details indicated there was still some way to go.
The five-percent rise in the March consumer price index was the lowest since May 2021 but core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, accelerated to 5.6 percent from 5.5 percent the previous month.
The reading came after Friday’s jobs report showed another healthy increase in recruitment and helped reinforce expectations the Fed will hike rates in May, for the tenth time in just over a year.
Traders await the release of wholesale inflation later in the day, and first-quarter earnings Friday from top banks including JPMorgan and Citibank.
Wall Street swung after the release but turned negative towards the end of the day after the Fed minutes, which highlighted concerns about the impact of last month’s banking crisis, in which three US lenders went under and Credit Suisse was taken over.
“The staff’s projection at the time of the March meeting included a mild recession starting later this year, with a recovery over the subsequent two years,” according to the minutes of the Fed policy meeting, where rates were lifted by 25 basis points.
They also said “some additional policy firming may be appropriate” to help bring inflation down to the Fed’s target of two percent.
In light of the banking turmoil, officials “commented that recent developments in the banking sector were likely to result in tighter credit conditions for households and businesses and to weigh on economic activity, hiring and inflation”, but the extent of the effects was uncertain.
Edward Moya at OANDA said: “The initial stock market rally was rightfully faded as inflation is still too high and as rate cut bets are still aggressively getting priced in. Investors also might not necessarily want to aggressively pile into risky assets before the big banks kickoff earnings season.”
Asian markets ended mixed after a downbeat start to the day.
Hong Kong edged up despite sharp losses in the tech sector that came after the Financial Times reported that Japan’s SoftBank was looking to unload a majority of its holdings in Alibaba.
There were also gains in Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Wellington, Paris and Frankfurt.
London edged up even as data showed the UK economy unexpectedly stalled in February as the country was hit by widespread strikes and a cost-of-living crisis.
However, Shanghai, Sydney, Taipei, Manila, Mumbai and Jakarta were in the red.
News that Chinese exports soared for the first time in six months, by a forecast-busting 14.8 percent, was unable to provide much lift to sentiment.
Oil prices were barely moved, but held most of Wednesday’s two-percent rally fuelled by a drop in US inventories and supply issues from Iraqi Kurdistan.
The two main contracts are now sitting around levels not seen since November, while traders are awaiting an outlook update from OPEC later in the day. With AFP