Share prices fell as investors took profits from the market's three-day rally ahead of the release of key economic results both at home and in the US.

The 30-company benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed at 6,606.69, down by 66 points or 0.99 percent, while the broader All Shares index shed 21.51 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 3,528.18.

The sectoral gauges were mostly down, with only mining and oil ending in the green.

Total value turnover reached P4.9 billion. Market breadth was negative, 91 to 86, while 56 issues were unchanged.

Claire Alviar of Philstocks Financial said the local bourse dropped as investors booked some gains after three consecutive days of market rally, tracking the overnight losses on Wall Street.

Investors were also cautious while waiting for the decision of the US Federal Reserve on interest rates as well as the release of Philippine inflation figures for April, Alviar said.

In Asia, most stock markets fell in thin trade as investors contended with signs of a softening US economy, and were in full flight from US regional lenders, ahead of an expected interest rate hike later in the day.

Tumbling regional bank stocks weighed on Wall Street, and oil was also left nursing large losses with fears that banks tightening up on lending along with a slowing job market were harbingers of a looming broader slowdown.

'Short sellers, it seems, have gone to town, and as any equity trader will attest, when you know there is a wall of sellers out there, you stand aside,' said Chris Weston, head of research at brokerage Pepperstone in Melbourne.

After the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March, the collapse of First Republic over the weekend has confidence in smaller lenders flagging and investors more broadly bracing for banks to tighten up lending in response.

In Europe, where the crisis of confidence forced Credit Suisse into the arms of larger rival UBS six weeks ago, banks are sharply turning off the credit taps, data on Tuesday showed, perhaps making a case for a smaller rate hike this week.

 

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