PSE index clings to 7,600

The local stock barometer trimmed early losses to cling to the 7,600 level on Friday, but foreign investor interest remained sluggish.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slipped by 5.02 points or 0.07 percent to close at 7,647.51.

For the week, the PSEi shed 24.77 points or 0.3 percent from last week’s finish of 7,672.28.

The local index was weighed down most by the financial, services and property counters.

On the other hand, the industrial, holding firm and mining/oil counters gained.

Value turnover stood at around P5.1 billion. Foreigners were net sellers for the day amounting to P267.81 million.

Despite the PSEi’s decline, there were slightly more advancers (95) than decliners (92) while 56 stocks were unchanged.  Investors scouted for trading opportunities outside the PSEi.

The market was weighed down by banking stocks Security Bank and BPI, which tumbled by 4 percent and 2.02 percent, respectively.

Ayala Land, PLDT, Jollibee and Metro Pacific all declined by over 1 percent while shares of Ayala also slipped.

Outside of the PSEi, telecom aspirant Now also declined by 5.62 percent. Bloomberry also fell by 0.51 percent.

On the other hand, URC and JG Summit gained over 2 percent while Meralco, DMCI and BDO added over 1 percent.

SM Prime, SM Investments, ICTSI and Globe also slightly gained.

Notable gainers outside the PSEi include Megawide, which added 1.8 percent.