PSEi tumbles on failure of Doha oil stabilization talks

THE LOCAL stock barometer tumbled on Monday, tracking the downturn across regional markets as major oil producing countries failed to strike a deal on output freeze.

Slipping for the second session, the Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 77.9 points or 1.06 percent to close at 7,243.40.

All counters ended in the red, led by the financial, industrial, services and property counters which all slumped by over 1 percent.

Some 18 oil-exporting nations met in Doha over the weekend with the goal of stabilizing output in order to curb steep oil price declines. But no deal was hatched as Saudi Arabia demanded that Iran – which had just entered the market – be compelled to join any output freeze pact.

“The expectations of a supply side agreement to support oil prices were dashed,” Citigroup said in a research note on Monday. “Bearishness in energy prices is spilling over and may hurt risk sentiment.”

But Citigroup said it would do not recommend chasing the risk-negative moves. “Continued positive surprise from China’s economic activity data is likely to support risk sentiment,” it said.

“After a strong rally last week, expect the index to face increased selling pressure this week as prices approach key resistance. Technical divergences are something to watch out for as momentum indicators continue their weakness despite last week’s rebound,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at local stock brokerage Regina Capital Development Corp.

At the local market, there were 52 advancers which were overwhelmed by 126 decliners while 49 stocks were unchanged.

The country’s leading oil refiner and distributor Petron was the most battered among the PSEi stocks, sliding by 7.45 percent.

SM Prime fell by 3.72 percent while PLDT and DMCI slid by over 2 percent. ALI, URC, Jollibee and Banco de Oro all fell by over 1 percent.

SMIC, AC, BPI, AP and AEV also declined.

The day’s most actively traded stock was non-PSEi Security Bank which fell by over 5.18 percent.

On the other hand, NOW resumed its upswing, gaining 15.85 percent. Globe, Puregold and RRHI also firmed up.