PSEi slips ahead of Trump speech

The local stock barometer slipped on Monday, tracking a regional downturn ahead of a closely-monitored speech by US president Donald Trump.

Slipping for the second session in a row, the Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 26.52 points or 0.37 percent to close at 7,232.47.

The PSEi was weighed down by the industrial, holding firm and property counters.

On the other hand, the financial, services and mining/oil counters ended higher.

Valur turnover for the day was relatively thin at P4.39 billion. There were 103 decliners that edged out 84 advancers while 54 stocks were unchanged.

“Philippine markets closed in the red as the US indices were artificially pushed up while Asian counterparts mostly traded in negative territory…While the major (US) averages continue to post record all-time highs with alarming regularity, the performance over much of the week pointed to confusion about what exactly the ‘Trump trade’ is, or whether that narrative remains valid. With that in mind Trump’s first major presidential address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday (Washington 2100h) will take on even greater significance,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at local stock brokerage Regina Capital Development.

“Financial markets are eagerly awaiting more information on the details and timing of US tax reform. We continue to expect that a major US tax reform, featuring declines in corporate and personal income tax rates amongst other things, will be passed before the end of the 2017 calendar-year, and deliver a boost of roughly 1.5 percent to US GDP (gross domestic product) in 2018-2021,” Citigroup said in a global research note on Monday.

The PSEi was weighed down by GT Capital, which fell by 2.02 percent as well as SM Prime, URC and Ayala Corp. which all declined by over 1 percent.

SMIC, ALI and MPI also slipped.

On the other hand, Semirara – the day’s most actively trades company – gained 1.06 percent. ICTSI, EDC, SMC, Jollibee, Metrobank and Security Bank also firmed up.

Investors also picked up selected second-liner stocks.

Arthaland surged by 13.68 percent after announcing an engineering, procurement and construction deal with a unit of Chinese construction giant China Railway Group Ltd. (CREC) and Malaysian construction and property firm Knusford Berhad for a 38-storey office building in Cebu.

Technology firm Xurpas also rose by 5.75 percent.

Retailer Puregold gained another 0.22 percent ahead of its March 13 debut on the PSEi.