The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was down 85.43 points to 6,887.92, a 1.23 percent drop.
The broader all shares index was down 36.84 points to 4,184.96, a 0.87 percent drop.
Losers edged gainers 129 to 76 with 41 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P14.18 billion.
The peso closed at 48.38 to the dollar, down from 48.09 on Wednesday. It opened at 48.30, hitting a high of 48.28 and a low of 48.455. Trading turnover reached $1.79 billion.
SB Equities Inc. said the same tightening signal from the US Fed is the main culprit for the stock market’s drop Thursday.
“A hawkish Federal Reserve’s monetary policy statement hurt risk-appetite for local stocks, ahead of an expected outflow from FTSE rebalancing activity on Friday,” it said.
“With the IMF (International Monetary Fund) also cutting its Philippine GDP (gross domestic product) growth forecast for the year, investors took an opportunity to lock in gains from four-month highs which saw the PSEi trade the bulk of the session in the red,” it added.
Most actively traded BDO Unibank Inc. was down P1.50 to P116.40. Ayala Land Inc. was down P1 to P36.65. Converge Information and Communication Technology Solutions Inc. was up P0.40 to P23.05. Ever-Gotesco Resources and Holdings Inc. was up P0.10 to P0.67.
AC Energy Corp. was down P0.28 to P8.16. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was down P1.05 to P36.95. SM Investments Corp. was down P1 to P999. Universal Robina Corp. was down P6 to P139.10. JG Summit Holdings Inc. was up P0.25 to P63. – Ruelle Castro
