October 12, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Investors yesterday closed the week in the red, bothered by the possibility that the US Federal Reserve will take a cautious approach on monetary easing because of higher-than-expected inflation.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended the week in a four-day slump, as it gave up 1.36 percent or 101.15 points to close at 7,310.32.
Likewise, the broader All Shares index shed 0.55 percent, or 22.36 points, to land at 4,015.16, as yesterday turned out to be all losses, no gains for every industry.
Regina Capital Development Corp. managing director Luis Limlingan said the PSEi suffered the same fate as Wall Street on Thursday. Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq registered losses in response to news that US inflation fell to 2.4 percent in September.
Traders were worried that the Fed may rethink its plans of pursuing a rate cut. Initially, they were expecting the Fed to ease monetary policy in its meeting in November.
“Philippine shares fell along with S&P 500 and Dow Jones, retreating from record highs, driven by inflation news that impacted the market,” Limlingan said.
The losses came on a mixed day for Asian markets following disappointing US inflation data that further dampened expectations for another bumper interest rate cut next month.
“As such, the markets are now considering a cautious US Fed approach to monetary easing,” Limiingan said.
Throughout yesterday’s session, the PSEi saw P5.51 billion worth of shares change hands, with losers outpacing the gainers, 131 to 72, with 44 issues untouched.
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