PSEi posts losses in nervous trade ahead of BSP meeting
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine equities ended Tuesday with losses, as investors await the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ next step to fight inflation that unexpectedly got even hotter in January.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 0.69% to close at 6.791.24. Meanwhile, the broader All Shares index shed 0.31%.
All sectoral counters ended in the red, with property firms posting the largest drop after retreating 0.93%.
This was followed by holding firms (-0.70%), financials (-0.52%), services (-0.33%), mining & oil (-0.28%) and industrial (-0.15%).
“Investors continued to stay away from the local equities market on concerns over the upcoming monetary-policy setting meeting of the MB (Monetary Board),” Luis Limlingan of Manila-based brokerage firm Regina Capital said in a market commentary.
Inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, accelerated 8.7% year-on-year in the first month of the year, faster than 8.1% print recorded in December.
The surprising January figure bucked market expectations of a cooler inflation, which was widely projected to have peaked in December as robust demand during the holiday season was highly expected to have waned.
The upsetting figure even exceeded the BSP’s 7.5-8.3% forecast range for January. Some analysts now expect the BSP to hike rates when the Monetary Board meets for the first time this year on Thursday.
Nervous trade
Asian equities were mixed Tuesday as investors geared up for the release of crucial US inflation data later in the day.
After a bright January, traders have endured a shaky couple of weeks as they contemplate the prospect of more Federal Reserve interest rate hikes aimed at cooling a still-robust US economy.
Tokyo rose along with Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Taipei, Mumbai and Jakarta.
But Hong Kong was dragged down by another drop in Chinese tech firms, while there were also losses in Singapore and Bangkok.
Wellington was barely moved as traders tracked developments after New Zealand was pounded by a strong cyclone that forced the government to declare a national state of emergency.
Wall Street provided a healthy lead with all three main indexes ending more than one percent higher.
At home, foreigners sold more shares amounting to P461.38 million than they bought in the local stock market. — with AFP
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