PSEi falls to 7,500

The local stock barometer fell to the 7,500 level Tuesday as investors pocketed gains from last week’s bounce even as most regional markets firmed up after the closely watched US presidential debates.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 75.12 points or 0.98 percent to close at 7,557.34. Elsewhere in the region, most stock markets were perked up by perception that Hillary Clinton had edged out Donald Trump during the US presidential debate.

All counters were in the red but the mining/oil counter was the most battered sub-index, falling by 2.44 percent, as investors were jittery over some mining firms that could be shut down by the government amid the crackdown for environmental violations.

The financial and services counters both fell by more than 1 percent.

Total value turnover for the day amounted to P7.76 billion. There were 51 advancers, which were overwhelmed by

147 decliners, while 40 stocks were unchanged.

Foreign investors continued to trim equity holdings for the 23rd session but net foreign selling had declined to P1.8 million.

JG Summit was among the most battered stocks, falling by 4.42 percent, while BDO also slipped by 3.27 percent.

Investors also sold down shares of GTCAP, SM Prime, MPI, AC, PLDT and URC, which all declined by more than 1 percent. Metrobank, Security Bank and SMIC also slipped.

On the other hand, AEV gained 2.34 percent while AP rose by 1.22 percent.  LTG also gained.

Notable gainers outside the PSEi were Nickel Asia (+2.73 percent) and Cemex (+1.33 percent). Doris Dumlao-Abadilla