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The stock market ended in the red on Friday as investors fear an ongoing dispute over the leadership of the House of Representatives would delay the approval of next year’s national budget.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange (PSEi) index fell 0.19 percent or 11.05 points to close at 5,931.61, while the broader All Shares index closed unchanged at 3,563.85.
Philstocks Financial Inc. senior research analyst Japhet Tantiangco said the shares fell due to concerns about the possible delay in promulgating the P4.5 trillion disbursement by 2021.
This would pose a risk to the economy, he warned.
The analyst’s remarks come after President Rodrigo Duterte, in a televised speech, warned House lawmakers to resolve the leadership dispute and pass the 2021 budget “legally and constitutionally,” or else he will. ” would solve “for them.
The dispute involved incumbent president Alan Peter Cayetano and Marindique representative Lord Allan Velasco, who said he should assume the presidency by October 14 under a power-sharing agreement negotiated by Duterte.
But Cayetano demanded that Velasco demonstrate that he has the backing of the majority of lawmakers, then abruptly allowed the suspension of congressional sessions until November 16, anticipating any attempt to wrest control of Congress from him.
The Cayetano camp led the initial approval of the proposed 2021 disbursement and then announced the halt to Congress. Several legislators protested that they were deprived of their right to control the budget and called for the immediate resumption of the House sessions.
Tantiangco also noted that Friday trading was “quite tepid,” as net value turnover registered P5.3 billion, below the annual average to date of P5.9 billion.
Foreign funds continued to go public as the main index posted a net foreign sale of P676.5 million.
This extends the market’s net foreign sales streak to 21 days, averaging P733.4 million per day.
Local sectors finished on Friday mixed, with mining and oil down 4.68 percent. Properties lost the most at 1.23 percent.
The total turnover volume was 9.160 million shares, valued at P5.63 billion.
The winners continued to outperform the losers, 119 to 76, while 43 values were unchanged.
WITH AN AP REPORT
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