Stocks fell for a second day, following losses in New York and Europe as traders fret over the state of the global economy, with potentially big market-moving events coming into focus.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, shed 26 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 7,509.94 Friday. Despite the loss, the bellwether was still up 8 percent since the start of the year.
The heavier index, representing all shares, also lost 15 points, or 0.4 percent, to settle at 4,504.25, on value turnover of P7.8 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 100 to 84, while 51 issues were unchanged.
Seven of the 20 most active stock ended in the green, led by conglomerate Ayala Corp. which rose 0.9 percent to P830 and Union Bank of the Philippines which picked up 0.6 percent to P65.20.
Meanwhile, most Asian markets traded lower Friday. After a healthy run of recent gains helped by rising oil prices, investors took a step back as the head of the European Central Bank (ECB) called for action to kickstart eurozone growth—which was taken as a sign its own arsenal is running low.
Mario Draghi said the cost of delaying reforms would be “simply too high”.
His comments follow an indication from Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen that it will likely not lift interest rates until the fourth quarter, while other central banks have either announced or are contemplating cuts.
Attention is now on next week’s policy meetings of the US and Japanese central banks.
The Bank of Japan earlier this year adopted a negative interest rate policy, following a similar move in 2015 by the ECB, in a bid to nurture investment. But the move has been criticized as being ineffective and some lenders say their bottom lines are being hit.
Also, there are fears that a British referendum on its European Union membership on June 23 will see a vote to leave, which many fear could unleash a wave of turmoil across world markets. With AFP, Bloomberg
