‘Trump effect’ weighs down stocks

MANILA, Philippines - Share prices continued to retreat yesterday as market investors took on a selling position after US president-elect Donald Trump’s press briefing provided scant clarity on future fiscal policies, analysts said.

“The market took on a selling position after president-elect Trump gave his first press conference of the year. Since the unexpected victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential election, financial markets have had to reassess their expectations on a wide range of policy issues,” Regina Capital managing director Luis Limlingan said.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 57.27 points or 0.78 percent to settle at 7,264.55, while the broader All Shares index shed 28.29 points or 0.64 percent to settle at 4,379.98.

Most counters were also down led by the services and property sectors with a 2.11 percent and 1.43 percent decline, respectively.

Meanwhile, the US dollar nursed widespread losses on Thursday after president-elect Donald Trump’s long-awaited news briefing. Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.9 percent as the yen climbed on a retreating dollar.

Wall Street had overcome its brief wobble to end Wednesday firmer. The Dow added 0.5 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.28 percent and the Nasdaq 0.21 percent.