PSEi weighed down by mining jitters

THE LOCAL stock market missed a regional upswing on Friday as profit-taking battered large-cap stocks while Consunji-led firms were weighed down by coal mining jitters.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 25.49 points or 0.32 percent to close at 7,955.86.

The mining/oil index fell by 4.18 percent for the day as the new Environment chief Gina Lopez talked about alleged environmental violations of several mining firms, including those of Consunji-led Semirara and the Tampakan mining project of Saguittarius Mines.

Semirara slid by 7.52 percent while parent conglomerate DMCI fell by 4 percent.

Only the services counter bucked the local market’s downturn, rising by 2.38 percent. This counter was lifted by ICTSI’s 10.23-percent rally after the port terminal operator released its first semester results.

SM Prime fell by 2 percent while URC, MPI, GTCAP, Metrobank, SMIC all slipped by over 1 percent. JG Summit and Megaworld both eased.

Outside of the PSEi, investors sold down Security Bank and Puregold which fell by 5.45 percent and 2.43 percent, respectively.

On the other hand, Bloomberry gained 3.86 percent and PLDT rose by 2.51 percent while Globe, AC, ALI also firmed up.

Outside of the PSEi, notable gainers included Megawide (+6.83 percent) and Philweb (+38.15 percent).

Businessman Roberto Ongpin has put his majority stake in Philweb on the auction bloc.