Cautious investors keep market in red

MANILA, Philippines — The local stock market tumbled yesterday as investors stayed cautious amid ongoing developments abroad.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell by 0.5 percent or 31.76 points to end the session at 6,337.43.

The broader All Shares index also closed in negative territory, which slipped by 0.29 percent or 11.07 points to 3,772.79.

“The local market pulled back as investors took a cautious stance ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy decision,” Philstocks Financial research manager Japhet Tantiangco said.

Tantiangco said that lingering concerns over the Israel-Iran tensions and their economic consequences, primarily on oil prices, also continued to weigh on sentiment.

Total value turnover declined slightly to P5.28 billion from the previous day’s P5.94 billion.

All counters were in the red, except for industrial, which increased by 0.45 percent.

Financials index lost the most, plunging by 1.71 percent, followed by mining and oil, which declined by 1.55 percent.

Advancers edged out decliners in a close contest, 96 to 95, while 52 issues were unchanged.

BDO Unibank was the session’s top traded stock, dropping by 2.55 percent to P153 per share, followed by Bloomberry Resorts, which plummeted by 4.76 percent to P5.60.

Investors remained on edge fearing a US intervention in the Israel-Iran conflict after Donald Trump called for Tehran’s “unconditional surrender.”

Iran and Israel exchanged missile strikes for a sixth day, with the US president’s latest comments appearing to dent hopes that the crisis in the Middle East could be calmed.