Philippine stock rally loses steam on inflation worry

Worries over sticky inflation, which is at a 14-year high, have driven the Philippine stock market down in the past couple of weeks. — Reuters

MANILA: After a robust start to the year, the Philippine stock market is losing steam as investors worry rising inflationary pressures and higher interest rates will crimp profit growth and cap stock prices.

The Philippine stock index has been one of the beneficiaries of China dismantling its zero-Covid curbs in late 2022, with the index up 20% in the past four months on optimism around the reopening of the world’s second-biggest economy.