PSEi falls below 7,000

The local stock barometer tumbled below 7,000 on Wednesday, tracking a regional downturn, as cooling inflation in China stoked fresh global growth fears.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 88.67 points or 1.26 percent to close at 6,924.77.

Across the region, stock markets were weighed down by reports that China’s inflation rate had come in at only 1.6 percent year-on-year in September, lower than 2 percent in August and undershooting consensus rate of 1.8 percent. This softer-than-expected inflation triggered concerns on economic growth in Asia’s biggest economy as it suggested that domestic demand has yet to firm up, investment bank BofA Merrill Lynch said.

At the local market, all counters were in the red, but the day’s decline was led by the mining/oil counter, which slid by 3.28 percent.

Value turnover amounted to P5.2 billion. There were 64 advancers, which were overwhelmed by 112 decliners, while 45 stocks were unchanged. There was P30 million in net foreign selling on Wednesday.

Bucking the day’s downturn was Bloomberry, which rose by 1.55 percent. The company expects its integrated resort Solaire Manila to return to profitability next year. URC and Jollibee also firmed up.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. has asked the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to keep the country’s financial clearing and settlement operations open on Nov. 17 and 20, which were earlier declared non-working holidays for government offices in Metro Manila because of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meetings.

“The Philippines is referred to as the bright spot in Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the country is at the center of economic activity in the region,” PSE president and chief executive officer Hans Sicat said in a press statement.