Stocks recoup some losses

MANILA, Philippines — Local equities attempted a modest rebound yesterday even as the broader regional markets continued to fret over contagion risks from debt troubles at China’s Evergrande.

The main Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) inched up 23.30 points or 0.34 percent to 6,881.20 although the wider All Shares index slipped 1.34 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 4,264.99.

Total value turnover reached P7.077 billion, with decliners outnumbering advancers, 116 to 64, while 51 issues were unchanged.

In other emerging Asian markets, gains were limited by worries of Evergrande defaulting on its massive pile of debt. Fears that the crisis could damage an already fragile Chinese economy and spill over into broader financial markets also sent Wall Street sharply lower on Monday.

“The Evergrande situation has congealed with ongoing global growth concerns to finally generate genuine risk-off market conditions,” Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets said, but noted it was unlikely the developer’s debt troubles would spark a full-blown meltdown in Asian markets.

“Evergrande is a symptom of a deteriorating property market in China, and the negative repercussions of that on Chinese growth and demand... Until we get clear indications of state-led containment measures from Beijing, however, market sentiment will remain poor.”

AB Capital Securities, for its part, said the local market inched up despite the US market’s weak performance.

“The PSEi opened lower before closing 23 points higher,” it said.

Investors would be watching out for the meeting of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) tomorrow, in which policy rates are widely expected to be kept at record lows.