Stocks ease as investors stay on sidelines

MANILA, Philippines – The stock market continued its descent yesterday as investors remained cautious ahead of the policy meeting in the US.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell 0.52 percent or 38.21 points for its third consecutive session losing streak, settling at 7,211.92.

The broader All Shares index likewise followed the decline, finishing 1.41 percent lower at 4,321.54.

“The market is on waiting mode for the Federal Open Market Committee (FMOC) meeting tonight and tomorrow,” Regina Capital managing director Luis Limlingan said.

A chance of a rate increase during the US Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, however, is being ruled out by analysts and such news is expected to provide the local market with some optimism in the coming days.

Asian shares were also in the red yesterday, with Japan’s Nikkei slipping 0.5 percent and the Shanghai Composite index falling 0.4 percent.

In the US, the Dow, Nasdaq and the S&P 500 each lost 0.2 percent.

Locally, all sector indices finished in the negative territory except for the industrial counter which picked up 0.63 percent.

Services and financial companies, meanwhile, retreated by more than one percent each.

Decliners continued its dominance over advancers, 151 to 52, while 40 stocks were unchanged.

Value turnover, however, soared to P10.09 billion from the previous day’s P6 billion.