Philippine shares fall amid Israel-Iran conflict

Local shares in the Philippines declined further on Wednesday amid ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, with investors remaining cautious ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) policy meeting scheduled for Thursday.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) fell by 0.49% or 31.76 points to close at 6,337.43, while the All Shares Index dropped by 0.29% or 11.07 points to end at 3,772.79.

Investor anxiety over the continuing conflict and weak retail sales data contributed to a decline in trading volume with PHP5.28 billion worth of shares traded on Wednesday.

Sectoral gauges mostly declined except for Industrial which rose slightly by 0.44 percent due to cautious market sentiment.

Analysts expect the central bank to cut rates during its monetary policy meeting, hoping to mitigate concerns over further conflict escalation in the Middle East.