PSEi down on Fed signals

The stock barometer slipped on Thursday but stayed above 7,500 as investors pocketed gains following a two-day rally.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 18.89 points or 0.25 percent to close at 7,565.32. Elsewhere in the region, stock markets were mostly lower due to jitters on the US Federal Reserve’s plan to shrink its balance sheet.

The PSEi was dragged down by the financial, services and property counters, but the most battered was the mining/oil sub-index which declined by 1.68 percent.

The industrial and holding firm counters slightly gained.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P9.53 billion. There were 91 advancers, slightly eclipsed by 101 decliners; while 43 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was weighed down most by ALI and AC, which both slumped by over 2 percent while PLDT and BPI also slipped by over 1 percent.

ICTSI, JG Summit, Globe Telecom and SM Prime all slipped.

On the other hand, AGI gained 3.24 percent and was the most actively traded stock for the day after reporting a 6-percent gain in net profit to P14.8 billion.

Metrobank and DMCI gained over 2 percent while SM Investments and URC were up by over 1 percent. MPI, Megaworld and Puregold also firmed up. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla