US travel restriction to Philippines weighs on local stocks

Share prices on the Philippine Stock Exchange closed in the red on Wednesday as the United States' raising of alert level 4 against traveling to the Philippines weighed on investor sentiment.

The benchmark PSEi shed 61.03 points or 0.94% to 6,439.39 at the closing bell. The broader All Shares lost 24.49 points or 0.61% to 3,964.34.

Philstocks Financial equity analyst Claire Alviar said the restriction of the US on traveling to the Philippines weighed further on sentiment.

The US State Department, in an advisory said, “Do not travel to the Philippines due to COVID-19,” noting that “the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for the Philippines due to COVID-19, indicating a very high level of COVID-19 in the country.” 

Apart from the travel advisory, the local bourse also tracked the overnight decline on Wall Street due to concerns over the rising COVID-19 cases globally, according to Alviar.

More than 3.456 billion shares valued at P5.371 billion, changed hands.

“Despite the market's decline, winners still edged losers at 108 to 92, while 52 issues were unchanged,” she said.—LDF, GMA News