Local shares edge lower despite US debt ceiling hopes

MANILA, Philippines — Local shares inched down for the second straight day, as investors remained wary on whether the US government could avoid defaulting on its debt.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index closed down 0.46% to 6,530.2 on Friday. The broader All Shares index was pared 0.25%.

Most subdindices landed in the red, except for shares in the mining and oil index.

Luis Limlingan, head of sales at local brokerage Regina Capital, attributed the market’s performance in the red to concerns surrounding the US debt ceiling.

“The index closed at 6,530.92 in today’s session as Wall Street still continues to watch developments on the debt ceiling negotiations, and also as the MSCI rebalancing closes in,” he said in a Viber message.

US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the government would manage to avoid a debt default that could prove disastrous for the global economy.

Regional markets mostly trended up, amid a mixed performance in Wall Street. Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Jakarta, Taipei, Singapore and Mumbai also rose, though Bangkok and Wellington dipped.

At home, foreign investors sold P298.1 million more shares than they bought in the local stock market. A total of 1.05 billion stocks, valued at P4.5 billion, switched hands on Friday.  — with AFP