PSEi plunges 1.97% at noon break on midterm poll results, US-China trade war

Philippine shares plunged almost 2% during the resumption of trading on Tuesday, after a one-day break for the midterm elections, as investors catch up with the local and overseas developments such as the escalating trade war between US and China and the recently concluded polls.

The benchmark PSEi lost 152.28 points or 1.97% to 7,589.92 at the noon recess. The broader All Shares shed 84.40 points or 1.76% to 4,706.86.

"One of the drivers in today's trading is the reaction of investors towards the partial outcome of the elections," Philstocks Financial Inc. research analyst Japhet Tantiangco said.

"So far, the election results show no opposition candidate getting a Senate seat. Some investors could be seeing this is a loss of checks and balances in the government," Tantiangco said.

Partial senatorial results, with 94.47% of Elections Returns process as of 11:26 a.m., showed non of the opposition bets are in the so-called Magic 12.

"Other reasons which the market is currently digesting is the heated US-China trade war with China retaliating through an increase in tariffs up to 25 percent on $60 billion worth of US goods," Tantiangco said.

China on Monday announced it would impose higher tariffs on $60 billion of US goods following Washington's decision last week to hike its own levies on $200 billion in Chinese imports.  — RSJ, GMA News