Index down anew after US Federal meeting results

MANILA, Philippines - Bears once again dominated the market yesterday as investors remained pessimistic after the release of latest US Federal Reserve minutes which raised concerns over the strength of the global economy.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) tumbled 65.75 points, or 0.89 percent, to settle at 7,278.98.

“The market remained pessimistic after the release of FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) minutes. Policymakers also raised concerns over the possibility of adverse spillovers from slower economic growth in China,’’ said Jason Escartin of F. Yap Securities.

US Federal Reserve officials widely agreed last month the economy was nearing the point where interest rates should move higher, but worried lagging inflation and a weak global economy posed too big a risk to commit to “liftoff.”

Only one Fed policymaker was ready to vote for a rate hike at the central bank’s July 28-29 policy meeting, while some others “viewed the economic conditions for beginning to increase the target range for the federal funds rate as having been met or were confident that they would be met shortly,” according to minutes from the meeting released on Wednesday.

These concerns shown in the move of foreigners to unwind their positions in local equities, with net foreign selling at P1.2 billion.

Decliners continued to outnumber advancers 95 to 63, while 57 stocks were unchanged.