By Aerol John B. Patena
President Rodrigo Duterte joins other heads of states on stage during the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Summit at the National Convention Center in Vientiane, Laos on September 6. (MNS photo)
MANILA (PNA) – The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) closed at 7.619.10, dropping by 100.08 points from Tuesday’s 7,519.02 bucking the upward trend in regional markets.
Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist of BDO Universal Bank, said investors were starting to be concerned on the aftermath of the Davao City bombing, Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s recent statements on extra-judicial killings and prospects of likely increase in US Federal Reserve interest rates.
“The tentativeness of the Fed hike, risk-off after the Davao bombing, and Pres. Duterte’s comments combined caused investors to stay on the sidelines. The local currency reacted as well following the sharp drop today,” he said.
The market analyst sees the stock market to be breaching at 7,500 levels within the near term.
Holding firms fell 112.65 points to 7,507.59 followed by industrial stocks down by 85.79 points to 11,780.41.
Value turnover amounted to Php 10.26 billion with 2.14 billion shares changing hands.
Decliners outpaced advancers, 125 to 65 with 43 shares unchanged.
The local currency closed at Php 46.69, nine centavos lower than the Php 46.60 on Tuesday. It opened at 46.49 with intra-day high and low at Php 46.72 and Php 46.46 respectively.