MANILA, Philippines — Share prices plunged anew, with the main index falling to a one-week low, as high inflation data from the US stoked fears of policy tightening and knocked stocks lower on Wall Street.
The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index or PSEi lost 44.03 points or 0.60 percent to close at 7,331.65 while the broader All Shares index gave up 11.63 points or 0.29 percent to end at 3,952.90.
“The market continued to correct and retreated to support, weighed down by the overnight drop in US markets,” AB Capital Securities said in a commentary.
A total of P7.25 billion worth of stocks changed hands, with losers edging out gainers, 97 to 91, while 47 issues were unchanged.
Foreign investors turned net sellers with P755.4 million.
Overnight data showed that US consumer prices in October gained the most in 31 years, strengthening the case for the Federal Reserve to hike rates even as a majority of Asian central backs stick to accommodative settings.
“Sentiments may be expected to remain capped by the negative lead in Wall Street overnight, with market participants taking some risks off the market while awaiting reassurances on monetary policy stance,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG in Singapore.
In the US, prices for beef, electricity and other items that consumers paid in October surged from year-ago levels at the fastest overall pace since 1990, raising expectations that the Fed will have to hike short-term interest rates more quickly off their record low.