Stocks take hit anew as ME war drags on

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March 5, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines —  The local stock market took another deep dive amid growing concerns over tensions in the Middle East.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index tumbled by 2.13 percent or 137.54 points, ending yesterday’s session at 6,307.84.

The broader All Shares index also fell sharply by 2.03 percent or 72.09 points, settling at 3,485.62.

RCBC chief economist Michael Ricafort said the market dropped as the war in Iran threatens to unleash a wave of global inflation.

“Fed Fund futures markets sharply reduced expectations for Fed rate cuts, as the war with Iran drives fears of an inflationary resurgence” Ricafort said.

He said also contributing to yesterday’s market performance was the exchange rate as the peso hit a near one-month low at 58.60 level.

All sectoral gauges were in the red, with mining and oil suffering the biggest blow with a 6.37-percent plunge.

Financials, industrial, holding firms and property were also major casualties, shedding by more than two percent each.

Market breadth was negative as decliners hammered advancers, 179 to 35, while 58 issues were unchanged.

Total turnover value stood at P8.67 billion, almost the same level as the previous day’s P8.88 billion.

ICTSI was the still the most actively traded, bucking the decline in most stocks with a 0.85 percent increase to P715 per share. It was followed by BDO Unibank and DigiPlus which plummeted by 4.47 percent and 8.33 percent, respectively, to P126.10 and P16.94.

Stock markets across Asia were pummeled yesterday as investors began panic-selling on fears the Israel-US war on Iran will fan inflation and hammer the global economy.