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Friday, March 29, 2024

Market slumps on regulatory risks

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The stock market plummeted Monday as investors turned nervous on reports that President Duterte will also investigate the LRT-1 concession agreement won by the groups of conglomerates Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index tumbled 169.98 points, or 2.2 percent, to 7,552.60 on a value turnover of P6.3 billion. Losers overwhelmed gainers, 130 to 64, with 44 issues unchanged.

President Duterte vowed over the weekend to look into the P65-billion concession agreement on the operations contract of the Light Rail Transit 1 awarded to the Ayala and MPIC groups. Duterte’s warning has added to the increasing regulatory risks faced by investors.

Ayala slumped 6.6 percent to P750, while property unit Ayala Land Inc. fell 7 percent to P40.50. Unit Water Manila Water Co. Inc. also dropped 7.1 percent, while MPIC dropped 5.4 percent to P3.31.

Most Asian markets, meanwhile, were mixed Monday as investors took a step back after last week’s rally, though the mood remains upbeat after the China-US trade pact was signed, while the global outlook appears a little rosier.

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Focus now turns to the release of corporate earnings, with big US names including Netflix, IBM and Hyundai due to report over the coming days.

Friday’s broadly healthy Chinese data provided some reassurance to traders, indicating a growth slowdown in the world’s number two economy may have bottomed out, and suggesting this year could see some improvement.

“We are entering 2020 on a more stable footing with economies globally stabilizing and looking like they’re turning up, and the phase one trade deal,” Anne Anderson, of UBS Asset Management, told Bloomberg TV. “So it’s a bit more positive with regard to the economic fundamentals.”

The positive sentiment helped Wall Street to chalk up more records, though there are worries the upward momentum could slow and gains could trigger some profit-taking soon.

In Asian trade, Tokyo and Sydney each ended up 0.2 percent, while Shanghai gained 0.7 percent. Seoul piled on 0.5 percent while Taipei was also up.

But Hong Kong struggled after last week’s advances and was 0.7 percent lower in the afternoon, with Singapore, Wellington, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta also in the red.

AxiTrader’s Stephen Innes said the general outlook was for further rises.

“There’s a belief that global growth will continue to pick up speed over the coming months, as significant downside risks to the global economy have been turned aside, and worries over a possible recession have diminished, with the data giving credence to the possibility,” he said in a note.

However, Michael Hewson of CMC Markets UK said there was still “an element of worry, with the resilience of the gold price speaking to a market that doesn’t necessarily want to put all of its eggs into one basket.”

Oil prices rose more than one percent on supply concerns after exports from Libya, which has been riven by fighting between rival factions since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising, were blocked after a pipeline was shut down by armed forces. 

And in Iraq, which is OPEC’s second-biggest producer, a strike at a key oil field hit output. With AFP

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