STOCKS closed lower on Wednesday following Wall Street’s decline and the weak peso amid fears of a potential global recession.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 140.39 points or 2.33% to close at 5,879.68 on Wednesday, while the broader all shares index dropped by 68.59 points or 2.12% to 3,165.64.
This is the PSEi’s lowest close since 5,867.88 on Oct. 7, 2020, or nearly two years ago.
“Philippine shares continued falling on climbing rates and global recession fears, with other regional indices falling deeper into the bear market,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.
AP Securities, Inc. Equity Research Analyst Carlos Angelo O. Temporal said in a Viber message that the “PSEi nosedived for the second consecutive day” to track the sustained rout in the US market.
He said the continued depreciation of the peso against the dollar stirred fears of “a potential off-cycle rate hike while growing odds of recession abroad” further eroded investors’ risk appetite.
Mr. Temporal said these factors “have driven significant foreign outflows from the PSE with net foreign selling surging to more than half a billion pesos.”
On Tuesday, Wall Street fell deeper into a bear market as investors remained nervous about a potential global recession, Reuters reported.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.43% to close at 29,134.99 points; the S&P 500 lost 0.21% to 3,647.29; and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.25% to 10,829.50.
Back home, the peso closed at P58.98 against the greenback on Wednesday from its P58.99 finish on Tuesday.
It has weakened by 15.64% or P7.98 from its P51-per-dollar close on Dec. 31, 2021.
Net foreign selling went down to P588.99 million on Wednesday from P11.45 billion on Tuesday.
Still, all of the sectoral indices closed lower on Tuesday. Mining and oil lost 424.77 points or 3.93% to close at 10,383.67; holding firms went down by 185.02 points or 3.19% to 5,602.94; property dropped by 64.29 or 2.47% to 2,537.98; industrials declined by 206.14 points or 2.32% to 8,662.23; services shaved off 31.89 points or 1.99% to 1,569.69; and financials retreated by 10.90 points or 0.73% to end Tuesday’s session at 1,472.53.
Value turnover was lower at P6.79 billion with 815.83 million shares on Wednesday changing hands from the P20.88 billion with 2.2 million issues traded on Tuesday.
Decliners overwhelmed advancers, 156 to 49, while 39 names closed unchanged.
AP Securities’ Mr. Temporal placed the PSEi’s support at 5,700 and resistance at 6,300. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
