Richmond Mercurio - The Philippine Star
March 1, 2025 | 12:00am
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index capped off the week in the negative territory, plunging by 2.06 percent or 126.12 points to 5,997.97.
Businessworld / File
MANILA, Philippines — The local stock market took cues from the drop in US equities, plunging below the 6,000 level anew.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index capped off the week in the negative territory, plunging by 2.06 percent or 126.12 points to 5,997.97.
The broader All Shares index also ended in the loss column, dropping by 1.83 percent or 67.07 points to end at 3,588.12.
“Philippine equities joined the global sell-off in risk assets, with the risk of a global trade war weighing on investor sentiment after Trump confirmed that tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China will proceed as scheduled on March 4,” AP Securities research head Alfred Benjamin Garcia said.
Net value turnover ballooned to P19.7 billion brought about by the MSCI rebalancing.
“Fund managers rebalanced their portfolio for the month end and tracked the latest MSCI rebalancing,” Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said.
All the sectors were in the red, led by the property index, which plummeted by 3.68 percent.
Market breadth was negative as decliners squashed advancers, 112 to 58, while 76 issues were unchanged.
Universal Robina Corp. was the yesterday’s top traded company, declining by 2.93 percent to P66.20 per share, followed by JG Summit with a 7.14-percent plunge to P15.86.
Asian markets tumbled yesterday as US President Donald Trump’s volley of tariff measures sparked fresh fears about a global trade war that could hammer struggling economies.
Economists are increasingly concerned for the world outlook owing to Trump’s insistence on hammering partners blamed for unfair practices, drug trafficking and immigration issues – and warning of levies on key sectors including auto, semiconductors and commodities.