MANILA – Philippine share prices marked a losing streak for the third consecutive trading day on Thursday and broke anew the critical support level at 7,000 as the sell-off in US markets downed investor sentiment.
The bellwether PSEi shed 162.58 points or 2.28 percent to close at 6,966.84. The broader All Shares lost 81.07 points or 1.86 percent at 4,281.24.
“The sell-off in the US market which just broke its critical support is putting selling pressure in the markets in Asia,” COL Financial president Dino Bate said.
Asian shares dived on Thursday as hundreds of billions of dollars hemorrhaged from global markets after a rout in tech stocks inflicted the largest daily decline on Wall Street since 2011, wiping out all its gains for the year.
“Philippine stocks fell below the 7,000 support once more after a sharp sell-off in the US erased the 2018 gains for S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, while the Nadaq composite finished in correction territory,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.
The PSEi last plumbed past the 7,000 support level was on October 11, when it finished at 6,884.38.
US stocks plunged confirming a correction for the Nasdaq and erasing the Dow and the S&P 500’s gains for the year, as disappointing forecasts from chipmakers and weak home sales data fueled jitters about economic and profit growth.
“Investors here are cautious after the huge sell-off in the Western markets,” Eagle Equities Inc. research head Chris Mangun said.
Foreign funds bought P2.260 billion shares and sold P3.377 billion, for a net selling position of P1.117 billion.
“Net foreign selling hit P1.1 billion, the first time to surpass the P1-billion mark since September 7,” P2P Trade Online sales associate Gabriel Jose Perez said.
More than 870.530 million shares valued at P5.499 billion, changed hands. Decliners led advancers, 146 to 38, and 34 issues were unchanged.
“Total value turnover was the strongest for the week at P5.4B, indicating the strength of today’s downward push,” Perez said. (GMA News)
