PSEi defies regional upswing

The local stock barometer slipped on Friday, defying mostly buoyant regional markets, as investors braced for the local corporate earnings season.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 17.45 points or 0.24 percent to close at 7,235.21.

Elsewhere in the region, stock markets were mostly higher -tracking overnight gains in Wall Street – after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to introduce a major tax reform that would reduce the tax burden of businesses and individuals.

At the local market, investors were awaiting fresh leads from the fourth quarter corporate earnings reporting season.

The day’s decline was led by holding firms, which fell by 1.27 percent.

The mining/oil counter was down by 0.42 percent as 23 players face shutdown of mining projects.

On the other hand, the financial, industrial, services and property counters gained.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.24 billion. Net foreign selling amounted to P167 million.

There were 114 decliners that edged out 81 advancers while 40 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was led lower by Megaworld, which fell by 3.39 percent, and conglomerate GT Capital which tumbled by 2.27 percent.

SM Investments and AEV also slipped by over 1 percent while BDO, MPI, JG Summit and DMCI all declined.

Outside of the PSEi, one notable decliner was Cemex, whose share price slid by 9.66 percent after reporting weak fourth quarter results, in turn attributed to the slowdown in public infrastructure spending after the government transitioned to a new leadership in the second half of 2016. The company’s share price ended at P10.10, falling below the initial public offering price of P10.75 per share.

Arthaland also fell by 6.63 percent as investors pocketed gains from the recent run-up.

Meanwhile, URC gained 2.52 percent while ALI, ICTSI and Globe all rose by over 1 percent.

BPI, Metrobank and PLDT also gained.

Outside of the PSEi, one notable gainer gained 6.56 percent on backdoor-listing prospects.