Index plunges on weak US mfg data

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine stocks plunged yesterday on weak US manufacturing data and concerns over emerging markets, dragging the bellwether index back to a year-to-date loss amid heavy selling by investors.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) plunged 2.15 percent or 129.29 points to 5,886.01, its lowest since closing at 5,842.88 on Jan. 10 and below the end-2013 level of 5,889.83. The broader all shares index retreated 1.82 percent or 66.61 points to 3,589.82.

The benchmark index’s “alarming” break of the critical 6,000 support level poses a threat for a further drop towards the 5,700 territory, analysts said.

“We followed the slump in Wall Street. Markets are really bothered that two biggest economies in the world, China and the US, reported weak manufacturing data,” Abbygayle Estrella, an analyst at brokerage firm AB Capital Securities Inc., said in a phone interview.

Miguel A. Agarao, an analyst at Wealth Securities Inc., said the drop in share prices resulted from the hefty retreat in Wall Street that spread through other markets.

Foreign selling that is persisting for more than a week already also pushed stocks lower, Agarao said. Net foreign selling hit P1.11 billion yesterday.

US equities posted its worst drop since June on the back of a surprising slowdown in the manufacturing sector of the world’s biggest economy in January.

All counters were in the red, paced by property firms that lost 3.44 percent or 79.90 points to 2,242.81. Mining and oil shed 2.42 percent or 331.46 points to 13,367.65.