Stocks stay in the red as trade war heats up

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market stayed in negative territory yesterday, a reflection that it remains fundamentally weak, analysts said.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index dipped 56.94 points, or 0.73 percent, to finish at 7,747.09.

Likewise, the broader All Shares index also slipped by 27.41 points, or 0.57 percent, to end at 4,781.85.

The sectoral gauges were no better, all finishing in the red except for the services index.

Total value turnover reached P7.420 billion. Market breadth was negative, 125 to 73 while 44 issues were left unchanged.

Despite yesterday’s lackluster trade, the market still managed to end the week higher, up 2.2 percent week on week.

Foreign selling prevailed even as foreign buyers bought P3.9 billion while foreign selling reached P4.6 billion. Net foreign selling was at P736 million.

Traders said the decline in Wall Street amid worsening US-China trade relations and dismal May factory output data in the US all spilled over the local bourse.

The US-China trade war still has no end in sight with China saying there would be no concessions on major issues.

As a result global markets have been tumbling as investors braced for the impact of the worsening trade despute between the US and China.