Lack of trading impetus keeps stocks in red zone

MANILA, Philippines — It was an uneventful day at the Philippine stock market again yesterday with the index ending in red zone.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) tumbled 29.41 points, or 0.36 percent, to settle at 8,070.89.

Likewise, the broader All Shares gauge also lost 10.25 points or 0.20 percent.

Most of the indices were down except for the holding firms index.

Total value turnover, meanwhile, reached P7.807 billion. Market breadth was negative, 119 to 34.

Astro del Castillo, managing director at First Grade Finance Inc. said there wasn’t much action in the stock market yesterday.

This as investors already factored in the slow down in inflation in January.

“There wasn’t much action yesterday. The index just ended flat. The market remains in consolidation as trade worries persist and the sign of a global economic slowdown is imminent. We still consider this as a healthy correction for the market,” he said.

Moving forward, Del Castillo said the market may still test the 8,000 level but it would definitely be a different story once the earnings results start to trickle in.

Corporates have started to release fourth quarter and full year 2018 results and are expected to go full blast with their reports next week.