PSEi slips below 7,800
THE LOCAL stock barometer slipped below the 7,800 mark on Thursday despite the regional upswing triggered by hopes for a dovish US Federal Reserve.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 54.67 points or 0.7 percent to close at 7,753.46 as the market resumed trading after a mid-week holiday in observance of the Feast of Ramadhan.
The market was dragged down by the property counter which fell by 1.78 percent while the financial, industrial, holding firms and services counters also dipped.
Meanwhile, the mining/oil counter firmed up by 0.91 percent.
Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital, noted that in the aftermath of the Brexit (Britain’s exit from the European Union) vote, up to five property funds in the UK had halted redemptions, asking investors to accept a decline in net asset value as they expect a decline in property prices.
Commenting on the latest Federal Reserve Open Market Committee minutes in mid-June, Limlingan said an abysmal May jobs report had then just startled markets ahead of the British referendum.
Article continues after this advertisement“But familiar refrains are sprinkled throughout the meeting minutes, signalling that the same old fears still linger for some members. When discussing the slowdown in payrolls, some members believed other indicators than payrolls showed a stronger labor market while other members expressed more concern,” he said.
Article continues after this advertisementAt the local market, value turnover for the day amounted to P8.69 billion. Market breadth was negative, with 78 advancers being edged out by 98 decliners while 59 stocks were unchanged.
ALI and PLDT weighed down the index, both declining by over 2 percent while SMPH, URC and AC all slipped by over 1 percent.
On the other hand, MPI, SMIC, Globe and AP all slipped.
AEV emerged unscathed, gaining 1.96 percent while JG Summit, BDO and Metrobank firmed up.
Investors also picked up stocks outside the PSEi such as Vitarich (+13.4 percent), Puregold (+3.62 percent), Vista Land (+2.2 percent) and Cirtek (+1.16 percent) which all gained in relatively heavy volume.
