PSEi slumps 1.91%

The local stock barometer tumbled on Tuesday as weak import data out of China stoked global growth jitters.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slumped by 136.85 points or 1.91 percent to close at 7,013.44.

All counters ended in negative territory. The decline was led by the property counter, which fell by 2 percent, while all other sub-indices slumped more than 1 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.29 billion. There were 66 advancers, which were edged out by 109 decliners, while 43 stocks were unchanged. Foreign investors were net sellers in the local market amounting to P1.1 billion.

Jollibee was among the few that bucked the day’s downturn, rising 1 percent on news that it had struck a deal to buy into American burger gain Smashburger. Outside of the PSEi, one notable gainer was Ionics, which jumped 22.5 percent in heavy trade.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), SM Prime and BDO Unibank led the PSEi lower with their more than 3-percent decline, while Ayala Corp., JG Summit, Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., Aboitiz Power, Globe Telecom and Megaworld lost over 2 percent.

Ayala Land Inc., SM Investments Corp., Universal Robina Corp., Metrobank, Alliance Global Group Inc., GT Capital and BPI all fell by more than 1 percent.

Outside of the PSEi, one notable gainer was Ionics, which rose by 22.5 percent in heavy trade.

In a research note, Citibank noted a divergence in China’s export and import growth data for September. The slower-than-expected contraction in exports, Citi said, was achieved on a high growth base of 15.2 percent year-on-year and in line with Korea’s improvement of export growth rate in September. On the other hand, it noted that imports declined by 20.4 percent—steeper than expected—likely due to input price adjustment.

“Weak import growth did not reflect contracting domestic demand but could be attributed to falling import prices,” Citi said. “The decline in year-to-date export growth suggests that this sector is in recession. However, we’re probably near the trough and may expect better readings in fourth quarter.” Doris Dumlao-Abadilla