Phl shares tumble on renewed trade war fears

Share prices on the Philippine Stock Exchange snapped a two-day winning streak as renewed concerns about the escalating trade tension between US and China weighed on the market.

ThebellwetherPSEilost109.86 points or 1.53 percent to 7,066.57 at the closing bell. The broader All Shares shed 56.07 points or 1.28 percent to 4,323.23.

COL Financial vice president and head of research April Lynn Tan said the market tracked Wall Street, which fell on renewed uncertainty regarding the US stance on Chinese investments in American technology companies.

Overnight, the Dow Jones IndustrialAverage fell 165.52 points, or0.68percent,to24,117.59,theS&P 500lost23.43points,or0.86percent, to 2,699.63 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 116.54 points, or 1.54 percent, to 7,445.09.

“It’s the announcement in which Trump said about pushing his plan to punish erring companies that violate American intellectual property rights. That move, though less confrontational, still sent the Dow Jones Industrial lower. So I guess the PSEi trailed the markets due to lingering trade woes,” Timson Securities Inc. equity trader Jervide de Celis said.

Trump said on Wednesday he will use a strengthened national security review process to thwart Chinese acquisitions of sensitive American technologies, a softer approach than imposing Chinaspecific investment restrictions, according to a report by Reuters.

Although that lifted US stocks initially, optimism quickly evaporated after White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Trump’s plan did not indicate a softened stance on China.