PSEi tumbles further on US tariff threats

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January 21, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) took a sharp drop yesterday, falling for a third consecutive session amid the continuing weakness of the peso and concerns over US tariff threats on some European countries.

The benchmark PSEi plunged by 1.32 percent or 84.92 points, closing at 6.352.86.

The broader All Shares index likewise tumbled by 1.03 percent or 37.39 points to settle at 3,606.81.

“The Philippine equity space pulled back amid mounting pressures from the freefall of the peso and the anticipated mid-January to February seasonal turning point,” AP Securities Inc. said.

Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the local stock market closed lower after the dollar/peso exchange rate posted a new intraday record low of 59.50 and closed at 59.455 yesterday, near the record low closing rate of 59.46 registered on Jan. 15.

Ricafort said the PSEi also weakened following the latest decline in the US stock market futures amid geopolitical risks recently, especially on Greenland wherein US President Donald Trump threatened higher tariffs on eight European countries that could lead to renewed trade tensions between the US and Europe.

All of the four sectors that finished in the red declined by more than one percent each, with property losing the most with 2.68 percent.

Services as well as mining and oil, meanwhile, managed to grow by 0.73 percent and 0.33 percent, respectively.

Trading was active as total turnover value improved to P7.13 billion from the previous day’s P5.19 billion.