Stocks decline further as market awaits CPI data

PHILIPPINE SHARES dropped further on Wednesday to track US markets’ drop overnight and ahead of the release of March consumer price index (CPI) data later this week.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped by 1.38% or 96.61 points to end at 6,863.82 on Wednesday, while the broader all shares fell by 1.02% or 37.33 points to close at 3,589.38.

“Along with the Asian markets, the local bourse closed in the red, losing 96.61 points (1.38%) to 6,863.82 following the negative cues from the US markets overnight as the US long-term treasury yields continued to rise,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Analyst Claire T. Alviar said in a Viber message.

“At home, investors were also taking a cautious stance while waiting for the inflation rate in March, particularly with the expectation that it will be higher than February’s figure,” Ms. Alviar said.

The Philippine Statistics Authority will release March CPI data on Friday.

US markets closed lower overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index fell by 1% or 396.61 points to 39,170.24; the S&P 500 index retreated by 0.72% or 37.96 points to 5,205.81; and the Nasdaq Composite index lost 0.95% or 156.38 points to end at 16,240.45.

“Philippine shares tumbled for a second straight day after sticky inflation data from last week, as well as some strong economic data, had investors concerned the Federal Reserve will take longer to cut interest rates,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

“Later, investors will get more insight into the labor market with the Automatic Data Processing Inc. private payrolls report, which comes ahead of the March jobs data on Friday. The Institute for Supply Management services index is set to be released after the open,” he added.

Back home, all sectoral indices closed lower, led by property, which retreated by 2.66% or 75.97 points to 2,771.69. Holding firms declined by 1.21% or 79.22 points to 6,439.32; industrials lost by 0.9% or 82.15 points to end at 8,971.07; financials went down by 0.83% or 17.01 points to 2,025.82; services went down by 0.67% or 12.78 points to 1,870.55; and mining and oil decreased by 0.16% or 13.68 points to 8,144.17.

“The property sectoral index was weighed down by the performance of SM Prime Holdings, Inc., which had the biggest loss among the index members, losing 4.07%. Meanwhile, there were six stocks in the index which were able to post gains this session, led by Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. increasing by 1.79%,” Ms. Alviar said.

Value turnover declined to P4.29 billion on Wednesday with 701.33 million shares changing hands from the P6.54 billion with 715.07 million issues traded on Tuesday.

Decliners outnumbered advancers, 119 versus 71, while 49 names were unchanged.

Net foreign selling stood at P670.32 million on Wednesday versus the P781.54 million in net buying on Tuesday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave