Share prices buck regional uptrend

MANILA, Philippines - Share prices went down yesterday, bucking the regional uptrend as investors remained jittery ahead of the US presidential elections, analysts said.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 30.18 points or 0.41 percent to 7,197.19 while the broader All Shares index shed 14.44 points or 0.33 percent to end at 4,311.28.

The rest of the counters closed mostly in the red except for the mining and oil and the property sectors which both surged higher by 1.06 percent and 1.11 percent, respectively.

Total value turnover reached P6.68 billion. There were 92 advancing stocks and likewise 92 decliners while 45 stocks were left unchanged.

The PSEi’s performance was in contrast to the regional uptrend brought about by news that the FBI had cleared Democrat Hillary Clinton of any crime arising from the use of private server.

The news lifted a cloud over Clinton’s presidential campaign, just days before the election.

As such, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.8 percent as investors reacted positively to the news.

The local stock market also closed lower yesterday after consumer prices rose 2.3 percent in October.

In a commentary, J.P. Morgan said inflation is expected to drift higher into 2017.

“Although inflation is expected to drift higher in the fourth quarter on account of the recent upward trend in commodity prices, we expect inflation to average 1.7 percent in 2016, undershooting the BSP’s two percent to four percent inflation target range,” J.P. Morgan said.