PSEi eases slightly

Local stocks dipped slightly Thursday ahead of a crucial monetary-setting meeting of the Monetary Board of by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Reversing modest gains in morning trade, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 2.77 points or 0.04 percent to close at 6,864.82.

The market was initially firmer in early trade, taking its cue from upbeat US economic numbers. In the afternoon, however, investors turned cautious ahead of the BSP’s monetary setting on concerns that the central bank would raise key interest rates. There were also some concerns about stress-testing regulations recently introduced by the BSP on real estate lending.

For the first time in two years, the BSP indeed increased the overnight borrowing rates by 25 basis points although this was announced after trading hours.

Despite the PSEi’s decline, there were 93 advancers that beat 82 decliners while 51 stocks were unchanged. Value turnover amounted to P7.47 billion.

The PSEi’s decline was led by SM Prime, Aboitiz Equity Ventures and DMCI, which all fell by more than 1 percent.  PLDT, the day’s most actively traded stock, was likewise down by 0.65 percent.

URC, SM Investments Corp., Energy Development Corp., Aboitiz Power and BPI also closed tower.

On the other hand, the day’s decline was tempered by the gains eked out by Megaworld and Philex, which were both up by more than 2 percent while Jollibee and GT Capital were both up by over 1 percent. Ayala Corp., Ayala Land Inc., Metrobank, Alliance Global Group Inc. and BDO also firmed up. Doris C. Dumlao