Share prices ended lower Wednesday on risk aversion.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was down 34.6 points to 7,253.61, a 0.47 percent drop.
The broader all shares index was down 8.37 points to 3856.11, a 0.22 percent drop.
Losers edge gainers 102 to 78 with 60 stocks unchanged. Trading turnover reached P6.41 billion.
Prior to the opening bell, the PSE initially announced the trading session will resume its 3 p.m. closure starting February 3, only to take back the announcement later.
The peso closed at 51.29 to the dollar, down from 51.26 on Tuesday.
The opened at 51.25 and hit a high of 51.18 and a low of 51.305. Trading turnover reached $787.8 million.
The Fed is expected to update its monetary policy plan later on Wednesday.. Fed tightening is putting pressure on some central banks in Asia to follow suit, potentially hurting their equity markets as happened in 2013 when the US central bank began tapering its post financial crisis stimulus.
“The recent central bank actions in Asia suggest that they may want to prepare for a Fed that is more hawkish than currently expected,” said Frances Cheung, rates strategist at OCBC Bank.
“The pre-emptive tightening provides them with some flexibility to quicken their own tightening paths if there is any upside surprises from the Fed,” Cheung added.
Adding to existing pressures, a senior International Monetary Fund official on Tuesday said that expected interest rate hikes by the Fed may delay emerging Asia’s economic recovery and keep pressure on policymakers to guard against the risk of capital outflows.
Meanwhile, the Philippine economy grew 6.9 percent in the third quarter of 2021 from a year earlier, lower than the previously reported growth estimate of 7.1 percent, sending the country’s shares down 0.9 percent. The peso fell 0.2 percent.
The dollar index, which measures the currency against six major peers, was flat at 95.953, while currencies in Asia were largely subdued.
Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp., said investors remained restless about the ongoing Fed meeting and corporate earnings.
“Officials are expected to signal their willingness to raise rates in March to battle surging inflation. On top of this, geopolitical tension at the Russia-Ukraine border continued to loom over global markets,” he said.
“Investors are also waiting for the release of 4Q GDP (gross domestic product), which will be out tomorrow morning. Latest Bloomberg median estimate is 6.3 percent,” he added.
Most actively traded Solar Power Nueva Ecija Corp. was up P0.05 to P2.07. Figaro Coffee Group Inc. was up P0.14 to P0.91. SM Investments Corp. was steady at P950. BDO Unibank Inc. was down P2.60 to P124.60. Ayala Land Inc. was down P0.65 to P34.10. PLDT Inc. was down P46 to P1,840. Globe Telecom Inc. was down P14 to P3,220. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was up P0.15 to P35.20. Security Bank Corp. was down P2.60 to P105. Ayala Corp. was down P5 to P868. – Ruelle Castro
