PSEi weighed down by PLDT sell-off
MOST local stocks slipped on Tuesday, weighed down by sluggish regional markets, the selldown of shares of telecom giant PLDT and profit-taking ahead of the so-called “ghost” month.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index fell by 32.03 points or 0.4 percent to close at 8,037.78.
The index was dragged down by the services counter which tumbled by 3.23 percent due to the 8-percent decline in PLDT shares.
“The PSEi was dragged by disappointing results from PLDT as profit fell 33 percent in the second quarter as the nation’s largest phone carrier booked losses for its investment in Germany-based Rocket Internet SE and as earnings from its mobile-phone, data and landline businesses were little changed,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at local stock brokerage Regina Capital Development.
“Similarly, other companies fell in anticipation of the ghost month which officially starts (Wednesday) while investors weighed reports outlining the details of the Japan stimulus package. In addition, many remained on the silence as they await the release of the Bank of England’s decision, wherein in many are expecting a rate cute in its meeting later in the week. Lastly, oil explorers slid on lower crude prices,” Limlingan said.
The industrial, holding firm, mining/oil and property counters also slipped.
Only the financial counter ended in the green, rising by 1.15 percent, supported by good earnings reported by banks for the second quarter.
Total value turnover for the day amounted to P7.25 billion.
Despite the overall PSEi decline, there were slightly more advancers (104) than decliners (101) in the market as investors scouted for buying opportunities outside the large-cap stocks.
Apart from PLDT, affiliate MPIC fell by 1.06 percent. URC, SMPH, GTCAP, SMIC, Globe, AC and JG Summit also slipped.
On the other hand, BDO rose by 2 percent while Metrobank, BPI and Jollibee were all up by over 1 percent.
BDO reported a 13 percent year-on-year growth in net profit to P13.2 billion for the first semester while BPI grew net profit for the same period by 35.6 percent to P12.7 billion.
Jollibee gained 1.2 percent while LTG, ALI, Megaworld were all up.
Non-PSEi stocks Cirtek (+0.22 percent), Cebu Air (+1.14 percent) and Security Bank (+0.9 percent) gained in heavy volume.
