PSEi falls below 6,000

The local stock barometer slumped below the 6,000 mark Tuesday, tracking a global downturn triggered by a disappointing US factory data.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 129.29 points or 2.15 percent to close at 5,886.01, declining for the third straight session.

“It’s another heartbreaking day in February. Weakness in US manufacturing data and worries about the pending debt limit due this Friday triggered the selloff. Investors were turned off as a result,” said fund manager Astro del Castillo, managing director at First Grade Finance.

All counters were in the red, but the most battered was the property sub-index (-3.44 percent). Holding firms and mining/oil counters were down more than 2 percent while the rest of the sub-indices declined by at least 1 percent.

Value turnover amounted to P6.75 billion. There were 133 decliners which overwhelmed 29 advancers.

A report indicating that US manufacturing activity slowed sharply in January battered US stocks overnight, thus weighing down regional markets. Doris C. Dumlao