PH stocks fall on profit taking after 2-day rally

The country’ main composite index closed in the negative on Wednesday as investors took profits after the market rallied for two straight days.

The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index declined 15.01 points or 0.23 percent to close at 6,551.81 while the broader all shares index dipped by 6.45 points or 0.17 percent to 3,798.88.

“The local market declined as investors decided to take profits following a two-day rally. Investors are also trading cautiously while moving through the Q1 corporate results,” Philstocks Financial Inc. research head Japhet Tantiangco said.

Trading was still strong for the day with net value turnover at P7 billion, higher than the year-to-date average of P5.53 billion.

Foreigners were net buyers with net inflows at P356.25 million.

Sectors were mixed with the properties on top, rising 2.89 percent on hopes of continued monetary easing.

The holding firms, however, declined 1.53 percent while financial dropped 1.03 percent

Decliners edged advancers 114 to 82.

Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. emerged as index gainer as share price advanced 9.56 percent to P37.25 per share. On the other hand, biscuit and noodle maker Monde Nissin Corp. was top index decliner, as share price went down 9.75 percent to P7.13 apiece.Asian stocks fluctuated Wednesday, with investors struggling to track a strong day on Wall Street as euphoria over the China-US trade detente petered out.But while the days of breathtaking volatility seen through April appear to be over for now, analysts warned that more work was needed for Washington to reach tariff deals with countries and instill a sense of stability.

Data showing US inflation unexpectedly slowed last month provided some cheer, though observers pointed out that the real impact of Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tolls will not likely be felt until May’s readings.

The US president on Tuesday played up a deal with Beijing. With AFP

“We have the confines of a very, very strong deal with China. But the most exciting part of the deal… that’s the opening up of China to US business,” he told Fox News.

His remarks were made aboard Air Force One as he headed off on his Gulf tour, with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday pledging $600 billion worth of US investments in a range of sectors from defence to artificial intelligence.

The agreements — including a huge chip deal for Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices — would boost US jobs, and the stock market is “gonna go a lot higher”, Trump said, citing an “explosion of investment and jobs”.

The tech-rich Nasdaq rallied with the S&P 500, which broke back into positive territory for the year, helped slightly by the inflation data.

Asia was mixed, though there were some standout performances.

Hong Kong jumped more than two percent and Shanghai also rallied thanks to healthy buying of Chinese tech firms ahead of earnings releases from market heavyweights Alibaba and Tencent.

Investors are hoping the reports will provide an idea about how the sector’s two biggest firms are coping with the trade upheaval and uncertainty in the world’s number two economy. Tencent jumped three percent, while Alibaba and rival ecommerce giant JD.com put on even more.

There were also gains in Sydney, Seoul, Taipei, Mumbai and Jakarta but Singapore, Wellington, Manila and Bangkok fell.

Tokyo ended down even as electronics titan Sony surged 3.7 percent as it announced a record annual profit and a $1.6 billion share buyback. However, it did warn profits could fall in this financial year and said it was hoping to manage the impact of Trump’s tariffs.

London, Paris and Frankfurt fell in morning trade.

Oil edged down after enjoying a four-day rally on demand optimism and Trump’s warnings to Iran over a nuclear deal.

Analysts said that while the China deal was welcome, investors were now bracing for the next developments in the US president’s trade standoff with the world as countries look to strike deals with the White House to avert stiff tariffs.

“Remember it’s an armistice not a peace treaty — and the tariffs are still at these levels worse than we had before,” Neil Wilson at Saxo Markets said.

“Let’s be honest, the market knows this script by heart: Trump escalates. Markets tumble. Back-channels open. China blinks. A deal gets made. Risk rallies,” added Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.

“The fog has lifted — for now. Whether this cycle brings more sustainable upside or just sets up the next tantrum remains to be seen,” he said.

Still, the dialing down of tensions with China saw JPMorgan Chase predict the US economy would grow this year, reversing its earlier forecast for a contraction caused by the tariffs. With AFP