Stocks sink deeper into bear market territory

The local stock barometer sank deeper into “bear” territory on Thursday, slipping into the 6,000-level for the first time in two years as foreign funds continued to dump risk assets amid global economic woes.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 175.33 points or 2.8 percent to close at 6,084.28.  This was the lowest level hit by the index since Feb. 10, 2014 when it closed at 6,042.25.

There was P962 million in net foreign selling at the local market, tracking gloomy sentiment across the region as investors dumped risk assets.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.4 billion. There were four decliners for every single gainer during the trading day.

All counters ended in the red, led by the holding firms which slumped by 3.98 percent while the industrial, mining/oil and property counters all slid by over 2 percent.

AGI led the PSEi lower, falling by 7.97 percent, while JG Summit slumped by over 6 percent. SMIC and DMCI fell by over 5 percent.

This sell-off is in line with what analysts expected as the programmed selling of foreign investors exiting emerging markets like the Philippines.  For the trading day, the big conglomerates were heavily battered.

ALI and ICTSI also fell by over 4 percent while Jollibee declined by over 3 percent.

Metrobank, URC, Megaworld, GTCAP, AC and Semirara all tumbled by over 2 percent.

The PSEi has now fallen by over 25 percent since peaking at over 8,100 in April last year.  If the index remains in bear territory for three months, it will be technically deemed having switched from bull to bear market cycle. The index has been in bear territory so far for the second week.