PSEi hits one-month low as tariff deadline looms

The benchmark index sank to the 6,200 level on Thursday, hitting a one-month low, as investors were cautious ahead of the Trump administration’s Aug. 1 tariff deadline and after the US Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped by 1.03% or 65.50 points to close at 6,252.73, while the broader all shares index went down by 1.05% or 39.68 points to 3,736.91.

This was its lowest close in over a month or since it finished at 6,218.28 on June 23.

“The local market dropped further as investors continued to deal with global trade uncertainties as the US’ Aug. 1 negotiations deadline looms,” Philstocks Financial Inc. Research Manager Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message. “Investors also digested the outcome of the Fed’s latest policy meeting wherein rates were kept unchanged and no definite outlook was given.”

“(The) PSEi went down… as investors are already cautious in their positions about the potential impact and how it might affect stock market movements ahead of tomorrow’s tariff deadline,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

US President Donald J. Trump said on Wednesday that his tariff deadline will not be extended. He also announced a 25% tariff rate on products from India, a 50% duty on copper pipes and wiring, and a 15% tariff on goods from South Korea.

Meanwhile, the US central bank held interest rates steady on Wednesday and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell’s comments after the decision undercut confidence that borrowing costs would begin to fall in September, Reuters reported.

Mr. Powell said the Fed is focused on controlling inflation — not on government borrowing or home mortgage costs that Mr. Trump wants lowered — and added that the risk of rising price pressures from the administration’s trade and other policies remains too high for the central bank to begin loosening its “modestly restrictive” grip on the economy until more information is collected.

The latest policy decision was made by a 9-2 vote, what passes for a split outcome at the consensus-driven central bank, with two Fed governors dissenting for the first time in more than 30 years.

All sectoral indices closed in the red on Thursday. Mining and oil plunged by 3.01% or 273.77 points to 8,808.23; holding firms sank by 1.6% or 86.45 points to 5,299.36; financials declined by 1.48% or 33.07 points to 2,190.06; industrials retreated by 1.31% or 120.32 points to 9,002.71; services lost 1.22% or 27.26 points to end at 2,194.68; and property fell by 0.93% or 22.29 points to 2,351.30.

Value turnover went up to PHP 7.85 billion on Thursday with 902.65 million shares traded from the PHP 4.66 billion with 800.01 million shares exchanged on Wednesday.

Decliners overwhelmed advancers, 134 against 61, while 56 names closed unchanged.

Net foreign buying was at PHP 228.54 million on Thursday, a turnaround from the PHP 57.49 million in net selling recorded on Wednesday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave with Reuters