Local stocks continue to weaken as higher U.S. interest rates loom

The local stock barometer fell below the 7,200 mark Wednesday as investors digested the latest stream of local corporate earnings reports and a looming US interest rate increase.

Declining for the second straight session, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 32.54 points or 0.45 percent to close at 7,174.30.

“In terms of technicals, the index has breached the primary 7,200 support level and can test the secondary 7,000 support level in the coming months,” local stockbrokerage AB Capital Securities said.

Overnight, US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hinted that the monetary authority would soon raise interest rates again.

The market was weighed down by the financial, industrial, holding firm, mining/oil and property counters. Only the services counter ended slightly higher.

Total value turnover for the day amounted to P7.96 billion. There was net foreign selling amounting to P464 million. There were 108 decliners that edged out 87 advancers while 47 stocks were unchanged.

Investors sold down shares of Metro Pacific and Jollibee, which both fell by more than 2 percent, while PLDT, Metrobank, BPI and Ayala Corp. all slipped by more than 1 percent.

SM Prime, SM Investments, Semirara, BDO Unibank and Globe Telecom also slipped.

Outside of PSEi stocks, one notable decliner was Cemex, which tumbled by another 4 percent. The cement-maker’s shares have fallen sharply since announcing weak fourth-quarter results.

Chemicals firm D&L declined by 0.93 percent on profit-taking.