There also may be some concern that inflation will rise because of higher oil prices. Overall, the market remains in limbo

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index fell almost one percent on Tuesday trading on lower volumes brought by geopolitical threats pushing investors to stay in the sidelines.

The main index of the local bourse lost 64.67 points to close 0.81 percent lower at 7,932,23. The broader all shares index was also down 0.60 percent at 4,794.20, while all of the sub-indices except for the industrial index registered losses.

Turnover value receded further to P4.74 billion from Monday’s P4.82 billion. Foreign investors left P214-million worth of net-selling footprint, a reversal from the previous days’ P130-million worth of net-foreign inflows. Decliners beat advancers, 126 to 73, while 45 names were unchanged.

“The main index lost steam again today amid dwindling trading volumes. It came all the way back down to its support at 7,920. Investors are still on the sidelines and no one is convinced that this market can go higher,” head of research for AAA Equities Christopher John Mangun said in a daily market note.

“There also may be some concern that inflation will rise because of higher oil prices. Overall, the market remains in limbo.”

Oil prices surged after news of drone attacks in Saudi Arabia’s crucial oil assets over the weekend. The attacks cut Saudi Aramco’s oil production by a half, or five percent of the global crude supply, threatening to further slowdown already dragging global economic growth due to lackluster manufacturing.

The attacks, which Iran-allied rebels have taken responsibility of, also risks greater tensions between the Unite

States and Iran as the former blames the latter for attacking global energy supply.

Key equities markets in the US likewise fell as a result, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapping an eight-day winning streak to drop 142.70 points to 27,076.82. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were also down 0.3 percent to 2,997.96 and 8,153.54, respectively.

“Equities markets in U.S. ended lower in last night’s trading session, a few days ahead of the Federal Reserve policy meeting. Investors are uncertain of a rate cut from the Fed in the coming meeting,” Mangun added.

Asian markets also suffered, with the Shanghai SE Composite Index dropping 1.74 percent to 2,978.1. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 1.40 percent to 26,744.78 while the Taiwan TSEC 50 index was down 0.22 percent at 10,874.50. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 0.06 percent higher at 22,001.31.