PSEi retreats as Marcos eyes Cabinet revamp

Philippine stocks fell on Thursday, weighed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s move to revamp his Cabinet and assert his authority after his allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats in the midterm elections.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) declined 1.09% or 69.98 points to 6,305.37, while the broader all-share index lost 0.79% or 29.76 points to 3,708.18.

“The PSEi corrected lower amid some wait-and-see stance in the markets on the new Cabinet appointments,” Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said in a Viber message.

The President asked his Cabinet secretaries to resign so he could evaluate the performance of each department and “determine who will continue to serve in line with his administration’s recalibrated priorities,” the presidential palace said in a statement.

Mr. Marcos said government projects would not be affected by the overhaul.

“Investor caution was further heightened by domestic political uncertainty after Mr. Marcos’ call for the courtesy resignation of his Cabinet secretaries, seen by some as a possible shift in policy direction,” Luis A. Limlingan, head of sales at Regina Capital Development Corp., said in a Viber message.

The local market also plunged on the back of negative cues from Wall Street caused by the rise in long term Treasury yields, Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, a senior research analyst at Philstocks Financial, Inc., said via Viber.

“This comes amid concerns over the sustainability of the US fiscal position as the budget deficit is seen to widen further,” he said. “Investors also dealt with Mr. Marcos’ move to call for the resignation of his Cabinet secretaries.”

Almost all sectoral indexes fell. Properties fell 1.31% or 29.37 points to 2,206.93, while holding firms declined 1.22% or 66.85 points to 5,380.79.

Financials retreated 1.19% or 28.5 points to 2,348.18, while industrials fell 1.1% or 99.69 points to 8,929.97. Services shed 0.57% or 12.17 points to 2,098.46.

On the other hand, mining and oil rose 1.12% or 106.11 points to 9,559.56.

Emperador, Inc. was the top index gainer, climbing 1.02% to PHP 13.80, while China Banking Corp. was the worst performer, dropping 4.58% to PHP 73, Mr. Tantiangco said.

Value turnover fell to PHP 6.39 billion with 572.35 million shares traded from PHP 7.63 billion and 712.07 million stocks traded on Wednesday.

Lowers beat winners 112 to 66, while 57 shares were unchanged. Net foreign selling rose to PHP 519.7 million from PHP 287.34 million on Wednesday. – Revin Mikhael D. Ochave, Reporter