MANILA, 5 August — The Philippine stock market plumbed depths previously unknown due to various factors and the resulting fall of the peso vis-a-vis the US dollar.
Traders first noted an absence of positive news so the Philippine market did not start out last week on a positive note. By the end of the trading week, it had lost 35.17 points or 2.58 percent to 1,328.17 points.
Traders said the lack of buying incentives, the weaker local currency and the absence of foreign investors all weighed on the market.
It’s no wonder that the market turnovers fell even more. Value turnover dropped almost 20 percent to 1.9 billion pesos ($35.5 million) while volume turnover fell 50 percent to 2.85 billion.
“There was really just no positive news, no foreigners are coming in and the peso weakness was another negative,” KGI Securities trader Frankie Araneta said.
Some traders thought the market would pick up on the second trading day last week but “It was just a technical rally ... the entire market has been oversold,” said Allan Araullo, vice president of Regina Capital Development Corp.
“The focus is still on the economic fundamentals, unless there is some improvement there, corporate earnings will not really matter.”
“It would take more good news on the economic front and especially on the corporate earnings,” said Paul Garcia, chief investment officer of ING Investment Management Co. of the Philippines.