Index tumbles as Fed hints of tapering

MANILA, Philippines - The economic impact of Super Typhoon Yolanda and the possibility of the liquidity-sapping pullout of US Federal Reserve’s monetary stimulus dragged the benchmark index to a two-and-a-half-month low.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 0.53 percent or 32.45 points to 6,122.89, its fourth straight day in the red. It was the lowest point for the main index since closing at 6,089.72 on Sept. 10.

“The market continued to drop as a result of Yolanda. That already messed up a lot of yearend forecast for the main index,” said Miguel A. Agarao, an analyst at Wealth Securities Inc.

Adding to negative sentiments was the minutes of the US Fed’s meeting indicating the possibility that the tapering might come in the next meetings, Agarao said.

However, Agarao said the good sign is that investors hunted for bargains late in the trading, allowing the bellwether index to climb from the intraday low of 6,049.13.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.41 percent or 66.21 points to 15,900.82, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index eased 0.36 percent or 6.50 points to 1,781.37.

Locally, most counters were in the red, again paced by property firms that sank 2.2 percent or 53.78 points to 2,387.44. But holding firms gained 0.82 percent or 45.83 points to 5,637.13.

Investor participation fell, with P8.54 billion worth of shares changing hands from P9.87 billion on Wednesday. Decliners continued dominating advancers, 123 to 34, while 41 stocks did not change.