Philippine stocks end lower after last-minute selloff

Philippine stocks declined on Monday due to profit taking and a late selloff as investors search for fresh leads.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped by 0.3% or 19.25 points to close at 6,249.50, while the broader all shares index went down by 0.39% or 14.60 points to end at 3,681.09.

The PSEi opened the session at 6,293.51, higher than Friday’s close of 6,268.75. It climbed to as high as 6,323.45 intraday but ended at its low for the session.

Last-minute selling caused the bellwether index to close in the red, Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message.

“Investors chose to take things cautiously while waiting for fresh leads, primarily on developments regarding trade negotiations between the United States and the rest of the world to de-escalate the ongoing global trade tensions,” Mr. Tantiangco said.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday did not back President Donald J. Trump’s assertion that tariff talks with China were under way and said he did not know if the US president had talked to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Reuters reported.

The Trump administration signaled openness last week to de-escalating a trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has raised fears of recession. Mr. Trump himself has said talks on tariffs were taking place with China and that he and Mr. Xi have spoken.

Yet Beijing has denied that any trade talks are occurring.

Mr. Bessent, who said last week that tariff negotiations with Beijing would be a “slog,” did not give a timetable for any potential agreement with China.

He said a trade deal can take months, but a de-escalation and an agreement in principle can be achieved sooner and would keep tariffs from ratcheting back to the maximum level.

“Philippine shares succumbed to profit taking following the upwards climb last Friday as investors prepare for the end of the month,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

Sectoral indices were mixed on Monday. Financials dropped by 1.85% or 44.87 points to 2,369.93; mining and oil declined by 0.86% or 86.37 points to 9,915.21; and industrials went down by 0.27% or 24.53 points to 8,774.50.

Meanwhile, services increased by 1.32% or 26.16 points to 1,998.75; property went up by 0.24% or 5.48 points to 2,276.15; and holding firms climbed by 0.10% or 5.57 points to 5,270.78.

Value turnover went down to PHP 5.74 billion on Monday with 743.002 million shares traded from the PHP 6.74 billion with 1.42 billion issues exchanged on Friday.

Decliners outnumbered advancers, 98 versus 94, while 58 names were unchanged.

Net foreign buying went down to P228.16 million on Monday from PHP 352.79 million on Friday. — R.M.D. Ochave with Reuters