Stocks retreat as market shifts focus to US rates

MANILA, Philippines — The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index retreated yesterday following the decision of the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.

The PSEi finished at 7,563.41, down 16.21 points or 0.21 percent, while the broader All-Shares gauge was up 2.42 points or 0.05 percent.

On the other hand, the sectoral gauges were mixed. The mining and oil, property, holding firms and industrial finished in the red, while the services and financials index closed in positive territory.

Total value turnover reached P5.881 billion. Market breadth was positive, 117 to 78, while 42 issues were unchanged.

Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said the market’s attention shifted to the Fed.

“Philippine shares traded mildly lower at close, as attention shifted to the Fed, which still raised their policy rates. The FOMC raised the funds rate target range to 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent, as widely expected,” he said.

US stocks, meanwhile, ended sharply lower on Wednesday after the Fed raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point. The S&P 500 finished lower by 1.5 percent to around 2,507 while Nasdaq Composite slipped 2.2 percent to 6,637. Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 352 points to around 23,323 – hitting a fresh 52-week low.

Christopher Mangun of Eagle Equities said the volume is already decreasing as more and more investors are out of the market to get ready for the holidays.