Stocks on 3-day losing streak

Share prices continued their descent yesterday, with the benchmark index posting a fresh one-year low for a second consecutive session behind a slump in global markets.

For the third straight session, the Philippine Stock Exchange index finished in negative territory, losing 42.45 points, or 0.55 percent, at 7,557.91.

The broader All Shares index also stayed in the red, shedding 22.34 points, or 0.48 percent, to close at 4,595.43.

“This is a risk-off sentiment of investors ahead of the central banks meetings

and other important US data due this week, especially the release of US gross domestic product on Friday,” IB Gimenez Securities Inc. head of research Joylin Telagen said.

Telagen said the US GDP outcome alongside the Fed decision on normalization policy could determine market direction over the short term.

“Philippine stocks continued with the meltdown as overnight markets turned around as more concerns for global assets outlook after the US 10year treasury went through three percent overnight,” added Regina Capital Development Corp. business development head Luis Limlingan.

In Wall Street, the S&P 500, the Dow Jones industrial average, and the Nasdaq each fell by more than one percent, while most key markets in Asia also ended in negative territory.

Local counters were again covered in red, with the services index suffering the largest drop of 1.52 percent.

Decliners outnumbered advancers, 125 to 61, while 49 stocks were unchanged. Value turnover was flat from the previous day at P6.21 billion.

Meanwhile, oil prices slipped on Tuesday as concerns the US might reinstate sanctions against Iran faded somewhat, reducing worries about the future of Iranian exports.

US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to seek stronger measures to contain Iran. At a joint news conference, Trump did not repeat threats to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement, but made clear he has little patience for it.

Renewed sanctions could harm Iran’s ability to export its crude.

Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia-Pacific at futures brokerage OANDA, said new sanctions against Tehran “could push oil prices up as much as $5 per barrel.”