Stocks fell Monday on profit taking along with the rest of Asia, as signs that the coronavirus may have peaked in Europe and the United States were unable to help the region’s equities extend their recent advances.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index shed 56.32 points, or nearly 1 percent, to 5,733.65 on a value turnover of P4.8 billion. Gainers, however, beat losers, 109 to 83, with 44 issues unchanged.
Universal Robina Corp., the biggest snack food maker, declined 3.7 percent to P122.10, while Manila Electric Co., the largest retailer of electricity, dropped 2.7 percent to P261.80.
Dito CME Holdings Corp., formerly ISM Communications Corp. and the third telecommunications company owned by tycoon Dennis Uy, however, surged 11.5 percent to P2.33, while conglomerate Ayala Corp. added 1.5 percent to P606.
Meanwhile, oil prices collapsed to more than two-decade lows Monday as traders grew concerned that storage facilities are reaching their limits. The rest of Asian stock markets were mostly lower despite governments starting to consider how and when to ease lockdowns that have crippled the global economy.
Shanghai, Mumbai and Bangkok rose but most other markets were in retreat.
Hong Kong was flat, while Tokyo fell more then one percent as Japan struggles to contain the disease, while Sydney shed 2.5 percent. Seoul dropped 0.8 percent. There were also losses in Taipei, Singapore, Wellington and Jakarta.
“The longer investors have to contemplate future economic issues while they wait for more countries to be on the downward slope of the pandemic curve, the more scope there is of risk assets pricing in a difficult future,” Chris Iggo, of AXA Investment Managers UK, said.
Investors are keeping an eye on Washington, where Congress and the White House are working towards a $450-billion economic relief plan for small business to add to the trillions already pledged to support the economy.
Big-name companies including IBM, Netflix and Coca-Cola are due to deliver their earnings reports.
US crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate briefly plunged almost 20 percent to below $14.50—its lowest since 1999—as stockpiles continue to build owing to a crash in demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Analysts said this month’s agreement between top producers to slash output by 10 million barrels a day was having little impact on the oil crisis because of lockdowns and travel restrictions that are keeping billions of people at home.
WTI was hit particularly hard as its main US storage facilities in Cushing, Oklahoma, were filling up, with Trifecta Consultants analyst Sukrit Vijayakar saying refineries were not processing crude fast enough.
There are also plenty of supplies from the Middle East with no buyers as “freight costs are high”, he told AFP.
“I think we will see a test of the 1998 lows at $11 sooner rather than later,” OANDA senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley told AFP.
And AxiCorp’s Stephen Innes added: “It’s a dump at all cost as no one… wants delivery of oil, with Cushing storage facilities filling by the minute.
“It hasn’t taken long for the market to recognize that the OPEC+ deal will not, in its present form, be enough to balance oil markets.” With AFP