PH stock index nears ‘bear’ territory at 5,971.05

Screengrab from www.pse.com.ph

MANILA, Philippines — The local stock market barometer broke down the 6,000 barrier on Monday, now at the brink of returning to “bear” territory as concerns on China and US monetary policy continued to hammer global markets.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 211.12 points or 3.42 percent to close at 5,971.05.   The index has pulled back by about 19 percent since hitting the peak of the recent bull run at 7,400 in mid-May.

A market is technically deemed to have reversed from a bull to a bear market when it has pulled back by 20 percent from the peak.

All counters were deeply in the red led by the financial (-4.69 percent) and mining/oil (-4 percent) counters.

With the PSEi breaking 6,000, this now puts the 5,500-5,800 levels at risk, according to Banco de Oro Unibank chief strategist Jonathan Ravelas.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P8.56 billion.  There were 165 decliners that overwhelmed 17 advancers while 34 stocks were unchanged.

The day’s biggest index decliner was MWC (-11 percent). The company’s bid to enter the Indonesian market is currently at risk due to signals from the leaders of Jakarta to instead nationalize the capital’s water concessions.

Other big index decliners for the day were Bloomberry and MPI, which both fell by over 8 percent while Belle fell by over 7 percent. Megaworld, Metrobank and Philex all slid by over 6 percent while AGI, Jollibee, Belle and AC faltered by over 5 percent.