Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
The local stock market weakened further on news of a lower-than-expected growth of the Chinese economy.
The main index fell 64.49 points or 0.97 percent to close at 6,572.51 led by the plunge of the Mining and Oil sector. Volume rose to 590 million shares worth P6.68 billion as losers beat gainers 108 to 80 with 50 unchanged.
“Philippine shares continued to slide with HK and China equities plunging after the latest growth print showed that the second largest economy grew at the slowest pace in three decades when excluding the pandemic. Retail sales also rose just 7.4 percent more, missing the 8 percent projection of most analysts,“ said Regina Capital Development Corporation Managing Director Luis Limlingan.
US equities also finished on a losing session as more fourth quarter earnings were released.
Philstocks Financial Assistant Research Manager Claire Alviar said, “the local bourse dropped as market sentiment was dampened by the expectation of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) that the country’s GDP growth may fall short of the government’s growth targets through 2025 due to the impact of high interest rates.”
“Moreover, most Asian stocks dropped after China’s fourth quarter GDP figures fell below expectations. This further weighed down on sentiment since China is one of our top trading partners,” she added.
— James A. Loyola
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Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
