Bourse slides on possible Brexit delay
Credit to Author: TYRONE JASPER C. PIAD| Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2019 16:22:59 +0000
THE stock market dipped on Wednesday after two days of gains on the strong possibility of another delay in the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU).
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell by 0.27 percent or 21.48 points to end at 7,933.76, while the wider All Shares slid 0.12 percent or 5.91 points to close at 4,778.20.
“Philippines shares closed lower as UK lawmakers debated [on] Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.
That debate resulted in members of the British parliament agreeing to the premier’s EU divorce pact, but they refused to turn the measure into law ahead of the country’s scheduled October 31 withdrawal date.
This means Johnson is unlikely to fulfil his pledge to have Britain exit the regional bloc that day, and raises the possibility of his calling a general election before the end of the year.
Timson Securities Inc. trader Jervin de Celis blamed the plunge on “Wall street’s lackluster performance last night and the absence of fresh catalysts here in the [local] market.”
“The mood among market participants remain subdued as well as we wait for more bluechip stocks to release their third-quarter earnings result,” he said.
While the index ended in the red territory, de Celis said trading resulted in net foreign buying of P1.1 billion.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq declined by 0.15 percent, 0.36 percent and 0.72 percent, respectively.
Asian markets were mixed. Tokyo inched up 0.34 percent, Jakarta climbed 0.09 percent and Thailand jumped 0.74 percent. Shanghai decreased 0.43 percent, Hong Kong dropped 0.87 percent, Seoul fell 0.39 percent, Singapore was down 0.57 percent and Vietnam slid 0.04 percent.
In Manila, all sectors were mix. Mining and oil and property rose while the rest dropped.
Volume turnover reached 1.17 billion amounting to P4.67 billion.
Decliners led advancers, 91-82, while 61 issues were unchanged.
WITH A REPORT FROM AFP