PSEi slips ahead of BSP meet

A Filipino trader blows a horn during the first day of trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange in Makati. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The local stock index slipped for the second session in a row on Wednesday as interest rate concerns spurred more profit-taking.

Ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ monetary setting during which further tightening is expected, the Philippine Stock Exchange dropped by 40.89 points or 0.56 percent to close at 7,212.78.  Across the region, trading was likewise sluggish on concerns of a premature interest rate increases.

All counters ended in the red, led by the mining/oil counter (-1.56 percent).

Dealers said investors were pocketing gains following the recent run-up while caution was exercised ahead of Thursday’s Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas meeting and also amid concerns on US monetary policy.

Turnover amounted to P8.95 billion.

There were 71 advancers against 105 decliners while 43 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was led lower by SMPH which slid by 3.87 percent while Petron and DMCI both fell by over 2 percent.

PLDT, AGI, BDO, Ayala Corp., SMIC, Bloomberry, ICTSI, URC and Metrobank all declined.

Outside of PSEi stocks, Nickel Asia (-4.23 percent) and Puregold (-2.87 percent) were sold down.

On the other hand, those that bucked the day’s decline were ALI and BPI.

Outside of the PSEi, the notable gainers were Medco Holdings (+11.43 percent) and casino operator Melco (+2.95 percent).

RELATED STORY

PSEi retests 7,300 mark