Local share prices dropped yesterday, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rages, but managed to recover some lost ground at the close.
The main index eased 12.61 points or 0.18 percent to close at 7,112.19 as the Mining and Oil counter led the retreat while Banks and Property firms managed to advance. Volume amounted to 14.97 billion shares worth P8.18 billion as losers swamped gainers 129 to 56 with 41 unchanged.
“Philippine shares closed slightly lower after failed peace talks between Ukraine and Russia spooked investors about how the geopolitical conflict could impact global growth, on top of the fresh 40-yr high inflation report,” said Regina Capital Development Corporation Managing Director Luis Limlingan.
However, he noted that, “Oil prices settled lower as Russia pledged to fulfill contractual obligations and some traders said supply disruption concerns were overdone.”
Philstocks Financial Senior Supervisor for Research Japhet Tantiangco said “The local market fell, taking cues from Wall Street’s decline overnight. Intra-day, the market dropped by as low as 1.11 percent to 7,044.84. This comes as Russia and Ukraine’s latest round of talks ended with no progress, implying that there’s no end in sight yet for the war between the two, and its negative impact will continue to be felt by the global economy.”
He added that, “Fears over an aggressive monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve have also resurfaced as the US’ inflation hit a 40-year high of 7.9 percent last February 2022.”