Share prices drop anew on thin trading volume

MANILA, Philippines — Share prices tumbled anew yesterday as global equities ended lower.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) finished lower by 43.62 points, or 0.56 percent, to end at 7,736.18.

Likewise, the broader All Shares index slipped 27.87 points, or 0.60 percent, to finish at 4,610.01.

Most indexes were down as well except for the property sector.

Total turnover was thin at P3.869 billion. Market breadth was negative, 139 to 55 while 44 issues were unchanged.

Foreign buying reached P2 billion, while foreign selling was at P2.5 billion, resulting in a net foreign selling of P564 million.

Ayala-led Manila Water Co. continued to fall amid President Duterte’s plan to rescind the contracts of the water concessionaires. Manila Water shares slipped by 5.23 percent.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., parent company of Maynilad Water Services Inc., likewise fell by 3.67 percent.

Chris Mangun of AAA Securities gave this comment: “Global equities markets end lower ahead of the two-day US Federal Reserve meeting which starts tonight. This is the last policy meeting for the year and investors are betting on another rate cut. Anxiety on trade concerns grow by the day as we approach the deadline for fresh tariffs on Chinese goods.”