PSEi bucks regional upswing

THE LOCAL stock barometer slipped for a second day in a row on Thursday, bucking a regional upswing that was fuelled by upbeat US economic data.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 19.63 points or 0.26 percent to close at 7,620.16, weighed down most by property stocks.

Elsewhere in the region, stock markets were boosted by the reported bottoming out of the US services sector in September from a six-year low alongside positive US factory data.

The local market, for its part, was dragged down by the property counter which tumbled by 1.1 percent. The financial, holding firm and mining/oil counters also slipped.

On the other hand, the industrial and services counters eked out modest gains.

Value turnover was relatively thin at P6.74 billion. There were 94 decliners that outnumbered 90 advancers while 54 stocks were unchanged.

There was net foreign selling for the day amounting to P331 million.

ALI, the most traded stock for the day, gnawed on the property counter with its 2.52 percent drop. Globe Telecom fell by 3.31 percent.

Metrobank and Security Bank both declined by over 1 percent while GT Capital, URC, AC, Semirara and BDO all dipped.

On the other hand, PLDT, MPI, Petron and ICTSI all gained over 1 percent. Megaworld, LTG and Jollibee also posted modest gains.

One notable gainer for the day was gaming technology provider Philweb, which surged by 28.62 percent on news that businessman Roberto V. Ongpin had sold his majority stake to Gregorio “Greggy” Ma. Araneta III, son-in-law of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.