Lingering United States recession fears trigger bloodbath

MANILA, Philippines — The local market opened the week reeling from prevailing fears of recession surrounding the United States.

A huge 2.58 percent or 170.57-point plunge greeted the Philippine Stock Exchange index to start the week at 6,434.73.

The broader All Shares index likewise plummeted by 2.24 percent or 80.43 points to close the session at 3,516.47.

“Philippine shares fell back to the 6,400 territory as global recession fears surrounding the US made investors worrisome of a hard landing,” Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said.

Claire Alviar of Philstocks Financial said the local bourse tumbled together with other Asian markets as the disappointing jobs report raised fears that the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged could lead to a recession in the US.

“In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei has erased all its gains this year and is now trading at a loss year-to-date, while South Korea’s Kospi briefly halted trading after triggering circuit breakers,” Alviar said.

“Back at home, sentiment was further dampened as the inflation rate in July could potentially be higher than the preceding month’s figure and the government’s target of two to four percent,” Alviar said.

Yesterday’s net market value turnover amounted to P5.17 billion.

It was a bloodbath across sectors, all of which shed by more than one percent.

The biggest casualties were industrial and property, which fell by 3.53 percent and 3.35 percent, respectively.

Decliners pummeled advancers, 175 to 34, while 45 shares were unchanged.

Universal Robina Corp. lost the most among index members, suffering an 8.7-percent drop. Other index members such as ACEN and SM Prime fell by 4.61 percent and 4.45 percent, respectively.