PSEi falls below 6,500

Most local stocks slumped Tuesday, dragging the main index below 6,500, alongside weak trading across regional markets during the last trading day before the so-called “ghost month.”

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 88.95 points or 1.37 percent to close at 6,420.78, declining for the third session in a row.

Value turnover amounted to P5.95 billion. There were only 43 advancers, which were overwhelmed by 111 decliners, while 38 stocks were unchanged.

The day’s biggest PSEi laggers were Aboitiz Power and Manila Water, which both slid by more than 4 percent, while BPI slipped 3 percent. DMCI, SM Investments, URC, RLC, EDC and Philex all plunged more than 2 percent. MPI was likewise down 1.96 percent.

COL Financial head of research April Lee-Tan said the day’s downturn was in line with the weakness elsewhere in the region.

In the short-term, Lee-Tan said local markets could still suffer from a weaker peso, rising interest rates and volatile financial markets.

“To combat these risks, investors should adopt a selective approach in buying stocks. Avoid buying stocks that belong to sectors that are expected to deliver weak earnings growth in 2014, have large fund-raising requirements or whose earnings are sensitive to rising interest rates, currency weakness and volatile financial markets,” she said.

The sectors seen to underperform are banks, most power companies and airlines.  Doris C. Dumlao