Stocks fell for the third straight day Friday as investors went on a consolidation mode further on lingering inflation concerns.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index shed 18.77 points, or 0.3 percent, to 7,280.57 on a value turnover of P22.1 billion. Losers beat gainers, 127 to 66 with 49 issues unchanged.
Synergy Grid & Development Phils. Inc., operator of the country’s electricity grid, dropped 4.4 percent to P14.70, while grocery chain AllDay Marts Inc. of the Villar Group declined 3.9 percent to P0.74.
JG Summit Holdings Inc. of the Gokongwei Group sank 3.9 percent to P57, but Globe Telecom Inc. of the Ayala Group, the second-biggest mobile phone player, advanced 5.5 percent to P3,630.
Hong Kong, meanwhile, sank Friday on an otherwise mixed day for Asian markets, with Chinese ecommerce titan Alibaba tanking more than 10 percent after warning of a weaker outlook.
Alibaba said Thursday that net profit tumbled 81 percent in the second quarter and revenue grew less than forecast as it was hit by the impact of slowing economic growth and a government crackdown on the tech sector.
The firm, once the poster child of China’s high-flying private enterprises, also said income growth over the rest of the fiscal year fell short of expectations, adding that certain factors could further impact results including “changes in laws, regulations and (the) regulatory environment” such as those related to privacy and data.
The 10.7-percent loss in Alibaba’s Hong Kong stock reflected a more than 11-percent fall in its New York shares and comes after a painful year that has seen the firm in the crosshairs of Beijing’s regulatory drive to rein in companies it thought were growing too powerful.
With Alibaba a big player on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, the market dropped more than one percent and other tech firms including Tencent and XD suffered smaller losses.
Singapore, Wellington, Taipei, and Bangkok also slipped.
But Tokyo climbed as the government announced plans to inject $490 billion into the Japanese economy to kickstart the pandemic recovery.
There were also gains in Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, and Jakarta.
Traders had been given a positive lead from Wall Street, where the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended at record highs, though focus remains on surging inflation and growing expectations that central banks will tighten monetary policy sooner.
Data this month has shown prices rising at levels not seen for three decades in the United States, 18 years in Canada, and 10 years in the United Kingdom owing to soaring energy costs and global supply chain snarls.
Finance chiefs in some countries including South Korea and New Zealand have already hiked interest rates, and the Bank of England is expected to follow suit before the end of the year.
But eyes are on the Federal Reserve, which has already announced plans to wind down its vast bond-buying program. It is now facing increasing pressure to hike borrowing costs as soon as mid-2022. With AFP
