PH stocks reverse early gains, close lower

The local stock barometer slipped for the first time in four sessions on Tuesday as a sluggish factory gauge out of China weakened regional marts.

Reversing gains in early session, the Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 11.95 points, or 0.17 percent, to close at 7,086.86 in mixed trade.

Across the region, stock markets traded mostly lower as a factory gauge in China fell to a three-year low, aggravating concerns over Asia’s largest economy.

At the local market, the PSEi was led lower by the services and mining/oil counters, which slumped by 2.02 percent and 1.79 percent, respectively. The industrial counter was also sluggish (-0.89 percent).

On the other hand, the property counter rose by 1.3 percent while the financial and holding firm counters also advanced.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P10.3 billion. There were only 63 advancers which were overwhelmed by 110 decliners while 42 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was led lower by PLDT, which slumped by 2.86 percent, and ICTSI, which slid by 3.26 percent.

BDO, BPI, JG Summit, AEV and RLC also declined.

On the other hand, AC gained by 2.3 percent while ALI also rose by 1.95 percent. SM, SMPH and MPI all advanced by over 1 percent. Globe, Metrobank and AGI also firmed up.

Outside of the PSEi, Security Bank—which has the highest return on equity among the largest local banks—gained 3.26 percent.—Doris Dumlao-Abadilla