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(PhilStar) MANILA, Philippines — The stock market pulled back yesterday its biggest decline for the year as the twin impact of the index rebalancing and choppy trading in Asia weighed on investor sentiment.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed at 6,320.19, down 236.38 points or 3.61 percent, while the broader All Shares index slipped 82.99 points or 2.04 percent to end at 3,976.94.

Total value turnover reached P14.4 billion. Decliners outpaced advancers, 134 to 63, while 45 issues were unchanged.

Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said shares were sold down at the close as tracker funds following the PSEi had to rebalance their portfolios to allow new entrants AC Energy and Converge to be included in their portfolios as several names were top sliced at the close of trading.

He said trading was also “choppy in the region” as investors digested the economic data releases in the US and the Federal Reserve’s plans to eventually reel in asset purchases.

Others sold on news with no surprise rate movements from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas meeting Thursday, Limlingan said.

The central bank’s Monetary Board kept its policy rate at a record low of two percent, which was in line with the market’s expectations.

Also, most Asian equity markets continued to ignore record highs hit elsewhere in the world as traders have been pointing to continued worries about the potential for new regulatory crackdowns in China and the fallout from the surging Delta variant of the new coronavirus in several countries in the region… Read More

(CNN Philippines)Metro Manila – The OCTA Research group does not see any downward trend of COVID-19 cases in the country by Aug. 20, an indication the strictest enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila may possibly go beyond that date.

OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David explained that based on the history of the country’s battle against COVID-19, it takes three to four weeks before infections decrease from a surge.

“Whatever happens, we probably don’t see a downward trend yet on August 20,” David told CNN Philippines’ Newsroom Weekend on Saturday.

“Even if maging effective ang ECQ, hindi natin makikita agad ang decrease. Maso-slow down muna yung increase, bababa yung reproduction number, then finally magkakaroon ng downward trend,” he said.

[Translation: Even if the ECQ will be effective, we cannot immediately feel the decrease. The increase in cases would slow down, the reproduction number will go down, then finally there will be a downward trend.]

David added that almost all areas in the country – except for General Santos City and Iloilo City – are recording higher COVID-19 cases per day.

Based on OCTA’s data, the country’s reproduction rate as of Saturday is at 1.46. David said the rate is 1.85 in Metro Manila and “almost two” in Cavite.

“Ibig sabihin nito, dalawang tao na may dalang COVID-19, tatlo ang nahahawaan nila (This means two people with COVID-19 can infect three others),” David explained… Read More

(The Manila Times) AFTER receiving two million doses of Sinovac vaccine on Thursday, the Philippines received the latest batch of 578,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine this Friday.

China Airlines flight C1701 carried the AstraZeneca doses, which landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at 9:04 a.m.

The 15,000 doses of Sputnik V component 2 is expected to arrive around 4:50 p.m. via Qatar Airways at the NAIA.

On Sunday afternoon, 469,200 doses of Moderna vaccine will arrive in Manila via Singapore Airlines.

The latest batch of doses will be delivered to PharmaServ Express in Marikina for packaging and temporary storage. The vaccines will be distributed to various parts of the country, especially to areas with high numbers of Delta variant cases.

The Bureau of Customs (BoC) at the NAIA pre-cleared the AstraZeneca doses before these were released. The immediate facilitation of essential goods such as Covid-19 vaccines is part of the bureau’s support of the vaccination program of the national government.

Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez and Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion and other Health department officials welcomed the arrival of the AstraZeneca doses… Read More

(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila — The country logged 13,177 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, its second highest number of new infections in a day, pushing the total to 1,713,302.

Active cases or currently sick people also soared to 96,395 or 5.6% of the case tally. It’s the highest active case count following April 24 when the number of ill patients went beyond 102,000.

At least 95.8% of active cases have mild symptoms, 1.4% with severe symptoms, 1% asymptomatic, 0.97% moderate condition and 0.8% critical condition.

The death toll jumped to 29,838 or 1.74% of the COVID-19 case count after 299 more people died. This is the third highest daily fatality count, behind April 6’s record of 382 new deaths and April 9’s peak at 401 new fatalities.

The recovery tally rose to 1,587,069 — which is 92.6% of the case total — after 4,322 more patients got better.

The DOH said it reclassified 185 survivors — ten into active cases and 175 into deaths — after validation, and deleted 238 duplicate cases, including 229 recoveries.

The total excludes data from four laboratories that failed to submit reports on time, the DOH said. These laboratories contributed an average of 2.1% of samples tested and 1.5% of positive individuals in the last 14 days.

The positivity rate or percentage of people who tested positive continues to rise. It is now at 23.6% based on 57,355 tests reported on August 11. The rate is significantly high and indicates inadequate testing efforts, based on the metric of US nonprofit Covid Act Now, which the OCTA research team uses as basis for its projections… Read More

(GMA News) Senator Richard Gordon expressed dismay over the delay in the deliveries of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines procured by the Philippine Red Cross (PRC).

In an online forum Friday, Gordon, chair of the PRC, said he is also thinking of canceling their orders from Moderna which cost around $5 million.

“Yung Moderna na binili ng Red Cross iba yan sa binibigay ng gobyerno na Moderna… So, ‘yung binili namin, ‘di pa dumarating sa amin. Talagang nakakainis. Gusto ko na nga bawiin yung pera namin because naka-tengga ‘yung pera do’n. 5 million dollars plus ‘yun kung ‘di ako nagkakamali,” he said.

(The vaccines procured by Red Cross from Moderna are different from the ones procured by the government. The ones we procured were not delivered yet and it’s irritating. I was thinking of getting the money back because that’s around $5 million not doing anything.)

The PRC’s latest information on the Moderna vaccines was the second tranche of COVID-19 jabs will arrive in late August, Gordon said.

The third tranche is expected to arrive around September or December this year.

He advised those who have reserved their Moderna vaccines through PRC to avail of vaccines that are provided by the government once it is available.

“Kung makakakuha kayo ng iba, ‘di magpa-vaccinate na kayo at aalisin namin kayo sa reservation,” he said.

(If you can access the vaccines through other means then you should get it then we will cancel your reservations.)

“Pero kung gusto niyo talagang maghintay ng Moderna, it will be there for you. Naka-reserve sainyo yun. So, I want to be very clear about that,” he added.

(But if you want to wait for Moderna, then it will be there for you. It is reserved for you. So, I want to be very clear about that.)

For those who want to cancel their orders, Gordon said they can inform the PRC through vaccines@redcross.org.ph.

In May, Gordon said the PRC will be administering the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to its members and donors.

The PRC may charge their members, who are willing to bear the cost of the vaccines, US$26.83 per dose plus an administration fee that covers costs for syringes, gloves, PPEs, meals, and allowances of doctors and nurses, and other essential expenses related to the vaccination.

But earlier, the PRC clarified that it is a humanitarian organization and “is not in the business of selling any vaccines. It does not charge for anything that it got free.”.. Read More

(BusinessWorld) CORONAVIRUS infections in the Philippines exceeded 1.7 million after the government reported 12,439 more cases on Thursday, the highest daily tally in more than four months to a Department of Health (DoH) bulletin.

The death toll rose to 29,539 after 165 more patients died, while recoveries increased by 6,090 to 1.59 million, it added.

Of the 87,663 active cases, 95.3% were mild, 1.2% did not show symptoms, 1.5% were severe, 1% were moderate and 0.9% were critical.

The agency said 116 duplicates had been removed from the tally, 108 of which were recoveries. Three recoveries were reclassified as active cases, while 85 recoveries were reclassified as deaths. Two laboratories did not submit data on Aug. 10.

DoH reported 177 more Delta coronavirus variant infections, bringing the total to 627. It said 173 patients have recovered, one died and three cases were still being verified.

The agency also said 102 more people have been infected with the Alpha coronavirus variant from Britain, bringing the total to 2,195… Read More

(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila — The Defense Department on Thursday said it is verifying the reported presence of a Chinese research ship near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Panatag Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea.

In a statement, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said authorities will take action “based on the facts gathered by the maritime patrols in the area.”

“Rest assured that the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), through the Northern Luzon Command, undertakes regular domain awareness operations and provides all the necessary support to the Philippine Coast Guard and other agencies to secure and implement our laws in our territorial waters and the EEZ (exclusive economic zone),” Lorenzana added.

The development comes after a social media post circulated claiming that a Chinese research vessel was sighted operating east of Scarborough Shoal.

The ship is supposedly being managed by a university in the East Asian giant, the post read.

Earlier this year, the Philippine government filed a flurry of diplomatic protests against Beijing over the lingering presence of its vessels in different parts of the country’s waters.

China has repeatedly rejected the landmark 2016 Hague ruling that invalidated its sweeping claims over the entire South China Sea… Read More

(PhilStar) MANILA, Philippines — Rebisco-led Asia United Bank (AUB) incurred a 36 percent drop in net income to P1.9 billion in the first half, from P2.4 billion in the same period last year, on the back of lower trading and securities gains amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

AUB president Manuel Gomez said the bank remains cautious about the impact of the more contagious Delta variant on the ability of the country to recover faster from the pandemic-induced recession.

“We expect 2021 to be a better year than 2020 due to the vaccine rollouts by the government and the private sector that will help improve consumer confidence and lead to increased economic activity. However, we remain cautious and vigilant about the COVID-19 variants and the economic impact of the ongoing pandemic. We are not letting our guard down,” Gomez said.

The lower earnings translated to a lower return on equity of 11 percent and return on assets of 1.2 percent.

Bucking the overall weakness in loan appetite due to sluggish consumer and commercial business activities, AUB was able to keep its net interest income steady at P5.4 billion.

The bank also managed to trim its operating expenses by three percent to P2.7 billion from January to June, resulting in a better cost-to-income ratio of 45.1 percent versus the industry’s 53.8 percent.

AUB said growing customer acceptance of its digital channels also helped trim its operating cost as well as increase efficiency and productivity. It has a network of 270 branches nationwide, including 48 branches of its four subsidiaries.

Furthermore, the Rebisco-led bank was able to slash its provision for potential loan losses by 41 percent to P896 million in the first semester from P1.5 billion in the same period last year.

The bank’s deposit base jumped by 22 percent to P282 billion from January to June this year, boosting its total assets by 16 percent to P336 billion in end-June… Read More