The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell by 0.74% or 47.29 points to close at 6,305.75, while the all shares index went down 0.92% or 31.99 points to 3,415.35 on Thursday.
Investors were cautious following the US Federal Reserve's latest policy statements and as they continued to digest the potential impact of various reforms proposed in the President's State of the Nation Address (SONA). Market sentiment was also weighed down by the latest Fed decision to leave interest rates unchanged.
Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales noted that the local bourse ended lower as investors reacted to various developments following the SONA, particularly those concerning the power sector. Market sentiment was also weighed down by the latest Fed decision to leave interest rates unchanged.
The local market declined following the negative cues from Wall Street amid fears that the Federal Reserve may already be lagging behind the curve. Bearishness worsened after the US struck Iran, which weakened hopes that the two would come to negotiations again.
In his fifth SONA on Monday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. called on lawmakers to approve a bill that would remove system loss charges from consumers' electricity bills. The country's largest private electric distribution utility, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), said it is willing to participate in discussions on the proposal, adding that it has kept its system loss well below the Energy Regulatory Commission's 6.5% cap.
Meralco was the main index laggard on Thursday, plunging 13.12% to P480 each due to concerns over the impact of the proposal on its profits.
Sectoral indices ended mixed on Thursday. Mining and oil rose by 1.51% or 241.19 points to 16,208.35; financials increased by 0.24% or 4.73 points to 1,936.87; and property went up by 0.09% or 1.77 points to 1,939.49.
However, industrials declined by 3.8% or 318.09 points to 8,037.39, holding firms dropped by 0.68% or 30.96 points to 4,511.85; and services went down by 0.09% or 3.10 points to 3,434.59.
Market breadth was negative as decliners outnumbered advancers, 113 to 65, while 54 names were unchanged.
Value turnover decreased to P6.23 billion on Thursday with 997.59 million shares traded from the P7.44 billion with 494.98 million issues that changed hands on Wednesday.
Net foreign buying went down to P643.82 million from P657.58 million in the previous session.
