PSEi falls below 6,800 as foreigners dump local stocks on oil, rate hike fears

The local stock barometer fell below the 6,800 mark Tuesday as foreign investors continued to dump local equities amid global uncertainties.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 44.2 points or 0.65 percent to close at 6,781.20.

Regional markets were mostly lower ahead of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (Opec) much-awaited meeting on Tuesday. Investors were also cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve policy meeting in December, during which the US central bank is expected to raise interest rates.

“There was relentless foreign selling,” said Manny Cruz, chief strategist at local stockbrokerage Asiasec Equities.

Net foreign selling for the day amounted to nearly P1.4 billion.

Cruz said the PSEi might retest the recent low at 6,722. If breached, he said, the next support level to watch would be 6,600.

The PSEi was weighed down most by the services counter, in turn due to the 6.36-percent decline by index heavyweight PLDT. Investors are dumping the telco’s shares due to the continued decline in its earnings.

JG Summit and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. also fell by more than 3 percent while URC, Aboitiz Equity Ventures and Ayala Corp. were all down by more than 1 percent.

SM Investments Corp., BPI, ICTSI and GT Capital also slipped.

Outside the PSEi, one notable decliner was Cemex, which fell by 4.14 percent.

Meanwhile, Jollibee and DMCI gained more than 2 percent while Metrobank rose by 1.35 percent. Ayala Land, Security Bank and SM Prime also firmed up.

HSBC economist Frederic Neumann said 2017 would likely be the most difficult for the region since 2009.

“As impressive as the rebound from the global financial crisis has been, Asia has over recent years merely limped along.