The local stock market weakened as investors take precautions amid the mounting attacks in Israel and Palestine.
The PSEi declined by 7.79 points or 0.12 percent closing at 6,252.16 as the Holding Firms and Financials indices saw losses by 0.25 and 0.86 percent, respectively.
Total volume of shares were logged at 771 million worth P5.7 billion as gainers succeed losers at 94 to 86 with 56 unchanged.
“The index slipped and value turnover fell as investors reacted to the armed conflict between Israel and Hamas that threatens to destabilize the Middle East,” said China Bank Capital Corporation Managing Director Juan Paolo Colet.
“Many market participants opted to stay on the sidelines as they adopted a wait-and-see stance while the situation unfolds,” he added.
Philstocks Financial Assistant Research Manager Claire Alviar said “the local bourse dropped as investors continued to assess the elevated inflation in the country, strong labor market, as well as the implications of these data on monetary policy.”
Alviar also noted that “concerns over the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict weighed further on sentiment.”
“Despite the overall market loss, most sector indices were able to secure gains with the Miners, achieving the top spot, up by 0.92 percent, followed by Services, advancing by 0.41 percent,” she added.
On the other hand, “Philippine shares opened the week slightly lower as investors geared up for a fresh batch of economic data,” said Regina Capital Development Corporation Managing Director Luis Limlingan.
Limilingan noted the key economic data that will be released in the US this week include the September Producer Price Index (PPI) on Oct. 11, Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Oct. 12, the University of Michigan Sentiment on Oct. 13, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes on Oct. 12, and the Philippines trade balance figure.