DESPITE the imminent signing of a so-called phase-one trade agreement between the United States and China, the stock market slipped out of the 7,700 territory on Wednesday, mainly on investors’ concerns over the next round of negotiations between the world’s two biggest economies.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) plunged by 1.65 percent or 128.85 points to close at 7,664.40, while the wider All Shares slipped by 1.45 percent or 66.67 points to finish at 4,539.30.