Global Trade War Fears Send Peso, Stocks Falling

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) sank to its lowest level in two-and-a-half years and the peso slumped back to the 57-to-$1 level on rising global economic concerns amid fears of a trade war.

- By Richmond Mercurio and Keisha Ta-asan

The benchmark index plunged by 4.3 percent to 5,822.85, its lowest since closing at 5,783.15 on Oct. 3, 2022.

The PSEi's 261.34-point drop was also its biggest single-day decline since losing 295.24 points on March 14, 2022.

The broader All Shares index also finished in the negative territory, plummeting by 4.03 percent or 146.67 points to 3,496.77.

"Philippine shares were heavily sold as the escalation of the tariffs rattled markets across the globe. Many are now looking as to whether other countries will continue to retaliate in a back-and-forth increase," Luis Limlingnan of Regina Capital said.

Unicapital Securities Inc. equity research analyst Peter Garnace, on his end, said that yesterday's massive selloff was largely driven by China's retaliatory tariffs announced last Friday—a response to US President Donald Trump's newly imposed tariffs earlier in the week.