PSEi sinks deeper on Fed woes

The bloodbath continued at the local stock market on Monday as investors factored in the possibility of faster US interest rate increases next year.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 136.58 points or 1.99 percent to close at 6,714.13, sliding for the third straight session, tracking mostly sluggish markets in the region.

Last week, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) delivered a widely expected 25-basis point rate hike but investors were spooked by hints that it may hike interest rates in 2017 by at least three times.

“Fed hike is a short-term risk, but positive for the region medium term, if accompanying strong US growth lifts global outlook,” BofA Merrill Lynch, noting however that portfolio outflows could be expected at the moment.

“With policy support and stronger external buffers, we think EM (emerging markets) Asia will muddle through risks, including the Fed’s hiking,” it added.

At the local market, foreign selling continued, resulting in net outflows of P897 million for the day.

The financial and property counters took the worst beating, declining by 3 percent and 2.84 percent, respectively.

The industrial and holding firm counters were both down by over 1 percent while the mining/oil counter also contributed to the decline.

Only the services counter firmed up for the day albeit by a modest 0.11 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P5.79 billion. There were 135 decliners that overwhelmed 61 advancers while 33 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was weighed down most by Metrobank, Jollibee, BPI and Megaworld which all slid by over 4 percent while BDO, MPI and SMIC all slipped by over 2 percent.

ALI, URC, JG Summit, GTCAP and AEV all fell by over 1 percent.

Outside the PSEi, one notable decliner was Global Ferronickel, which slid by 3.19 percent.

On the other hand, DMCI bucked the day’s downturn with its 2.33 percent gain.

Globe and Meralco gained slightly.