PSEi slips past 7,600

The local stock barometer slipped below 7,600 on Tuesday as foreign investors continued to pare down their position and dump large-cap stocks.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 57.58 points or 0.76 percent to close at 7,551.56. Elsewhere in the region, stock markets were mostly higher on optimism that Greece would strike a deal with creditors to avoid a debt default.

The decline was led by the industrial counter, which fell 1.47 percent. This counter was weighed down by Universal Robina Corp., which slid by 5 percent and was the most actively traded stock.

The holding firms, services, mining/oil and property counters also ended lower while the financial counter was modestly down.

Some dealers said foreign investors were pocketing gains from local stocks in line with the rotation of funds to North Asia.

Value turnover amounted to P6 billion. There were 70 advancers, which were edged out by 92 decliners, while 50 stocks were unchanged.

Aside from URC, the PSEi was dragged lower by selling on Bloomberry (-4.15 percent) and URC’s parent conglomerate JG Summit (-3.62 percent). AGI also faltered by 2.39 percent).

Ayala Land, SM Investments Corp., Energy Development Corp., BPI, SM Prime and Jollibee also slipped. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla