Asian stocks slumped to nine-month lows on Thursday as investors worried that the Trump administration's approach to trade is harming global economic growth.
SINGAPORE: Philippine shares slumped 2 percent on Thursday and moved further into bear territory on persistent foreign investor selling, largely sparked by a weak peso which hit a 12-year low earlier this week.
The Philippine Stock Exchange PSEI Index hit its lowest since January 2017, shedding over 20 percent from a record high of 9,078.37 touched on Jan. 29.
The last time the index fell over 20 percent was between April 2015 and January 2016, when it shed 25 percent.
The Relative Strength Index entered oversold territory, declining below 30 for the first time since April.
"We breached 7,200 support, so the likelihood is large that the market may retest the 7,000 mark in a month. We can get some rally towards the end of the year due to the traditional window dressing for the quarter-end," said Manny Cruz, an analyst with Asiasec Equities Inc.
The Philippine central bank raised interest rates after market hours on Wednesday and said it was ready to take further action to tame inflation and volatility in the peso.
The peso fell 0.27 percent on Thursday against the U.S. dollar.
Other Southeast Asian stock markets also fell. Thai shares declined as much as 1.4 percent and were headed for a sixth session of loss in seven.
The baht slid as much as 0.5 percent on Thursday to its lowest since mid-November, a day after the central bank held its benchmark interest rate and raised its forecasts for growth and exports this year.
Material and energy stocks fell, with PTT PCL down 1.5 percent and PTT Global Chemical PCL 3.9 percent lower.
Vietnam shares shed as much as 1.5 percent. Vingroup JSC fell 2.2 percent, while Petrovietnam Gas Joint Stock Corp declined 3.8 percent.
Malaysian shares fell 1.2 percent to their lowest since February 2017 and were on track for a ninth consecutive session of decline.
TelcO stocks Axiata Group and Telekom Malaysia fell 4.1 percent and 11.9 percent, respectively.
Indonesian shares gave up early gains to trade marginally lower. Pabrik Kertas Tjiwi Kimia Tbk PT jumped 5 percent to a record, while Astra International Tbk PT slipped 2.2 percent. Reuters
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