PH stock index retreats as investors wait for Q1 growth, weigh US stimulus program

MANILA, Philippines — The local stock barometer slid below the 7,100-mark on Monday as investors pocketed recent gains ahead of the release of the country’s first quarter economic growth data and amid rising jitters on the US Federal Reserve’s stimulus program.

Declining for the third consecutive session, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index gave up 171.4 points or 2.36 percent to close at 7,097.51.

But Philippine Stock Exchange president Hans Sicat said in a forum organized by Asiamoney that the local equities market would remain in a “growth” mode and no bubble was in sight.  Based on current market fundamentals, he said the market would likely remain robust – not just in terms of PSEi upswing but also in terms of increasing volume and value traded – at least through 2014.

All counters were in a bloodbath on Monday, with the mining/oil (-3.73 percent) and the interest rate-sensitive property (-3.52 percent) taking the worst beating.  Across the region, there were talks that the US Federal Reserve might scale back the massive stimulus program that has boosted markets across the globe.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P9.06 billion.  There were 6.5 decliners for every single gainer.

Bloomberry and SM Prime were the most battered index stocks, both declining by over 5 percent while SMC and Petron slumped by more than 4 percent.  AGI, AEV, ALI, Megaworld, URC and BDO fell by over 3 percent.

Meanwhile, some investors wanted to secure recent gains ahead of Thursday’s release by the National Statistics Coordination board and National Economic and Development Authority of the first quarter economic data.  A recent research by Citigroup said the first quarter gross domestic product might have grown at a slower pace of 6 percent year-on-year despite the much-anticipated surge in spending ahead of the mid-term elections. Citing weaker-than-expected external trade statistics early in the year, Citigroup projected a softening compared to the 6.4 percent expansion posted in the first quarter of 2012 and the 6.8 percent growth recorded in the fourth quarter last year.

The PSEi has now pulled back by 306.14 points or 4.1 percent from the all-time intra-day peak of 7,403.65 that was hit last May 15.