Turkey woes spread to local stocks

MANILA, Philippines — Stock market investors remained jittery over the possible impact of the Turkey contagion even as monetary and fiscal authorities assured timely intervention in extraordinarily volatile markets so as not to stun growth.

But market players were not assured, at least not yet.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index plunged by 107.49 points, or 1.40 percent, to end at 7,527.78 while, the broader All Shares gauge lost 53.61 points or 1.15 percent to end at 4,578.92.

It was another red day for all the sectoral indices with significantly heavy losses for all the gauges.

Total value turnover stood at P5.308 billion as foreign selling persisted and market breadth was negative, 141 to 60 and 41 issues did not move.

DA Market Securities said the Turkey issue is just sentiment damage and nothing else.

 If higher lows continue then we’re good for the pick, it said.

The collapse of the Turkey lira was triggered by fears that the country is descending into an economic crisis.

The index took another hit today, falling 107.49 points to close at 7,527.78, on account of a general risk-off sentiment developing in emerging markets. Investors might be worried of the ripple effects from Turkey’s ongoing currency crisis, added Gio Perez of Papa Securities.