Share prices closed lower on Monday, with market sentiment dampened by the US sovereign credit rating downgrade by Moody’s over the weekend.
The benchmark PSEi shed 0.17 percent or 10.69 points to close at 6,454.84.
The broader All Shares eased 0.1 percent or 3.71 points to 3,765.66.
Losers outnumbered gainers 109 to 86, with 49 stocks unchanged. Trading value reached P6.18 billion.
It was the fourth straight trading day of loss for the PSEi.
Michael Ricafort, chief economist from Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the downgrade has pushed the benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield to a new three-month high of 4.54 percent.
This will potentially raise bond yields and borrowing costs for governments, corporates and consumers globally, Ricafort stressed.
Juan Paolo Colet, managing director at China Bank Capital Corp., however, said the market’s reaction to the Moody’s credit rating downgrade was only “tepid.”
Investors were waiting to see whether the move would trigger “a more adverse movement in US Treasury yields that could potentially unsettle equity markets,” he said.
On the other hand, Luis Limlingan, the managing director from Regina Capital and Development Corp., said investors continued to digest corporate earnings and monitor potential political shifts in the aftermath of the May 12 midterm elections.
Regional peer markets also posted losses after Moody’s downgraded America’s credit rating to Aa1 from Aaa on Friday.
In Southeast Asia, stocks in Kuala Lumpur fell 1.1 percent, while shares in Thailand were down 0.6 percent, and Singapore by 0.5 percent.
Stock brokerage Philstocks Financial Inc. said investors also tried to grasp the slowdown in China’s retail sales to 5.1 percent in April,which fell short of the 5.5 percent market expectation.
Most actively traded International Container Terminal Services Inc. gained P6 to P416. BDO Unibank Inc. shed P2.60 to P157.80. Emperador Inc. lost P0.06 to P13.46. Ayala Corp. declined by P9.50 to P550.50. Ayala Land Inc. dropped P0.50 to P22.90. JG Summit Holdings Inc. rose P2.40 to P20.40. Bank of the Philippine Islands closed unchanged at P135.90. Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. slipped P0.60 to P77. Universal Robina Corp. closed flat at P91. Converge ICT Solutions Inc. added P0.88 to P20.
