The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 22.81 points or 0.31 percent ahead of President Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address to close at 7,376.80 while regional markets traded with mixed sentiment.
The PSEi was weighed down by the holding firm, services and property counters, while the financial, industrial and mining/oil counters firmed up.
Value turnover amounted to P5.08 billion.
Despite the PSEi’s decline, there were 92 advancers that outnumbered 88 decliners while 51 stocks were unchanged.
The main index was weighed down most by PLDT and Puregold, which both tumbled by over 2 percent, while SM Prime shed 1.35 percent.
Meanwhile, Metrobank bucked the day’s downturn, gaining 4.14 percent.
The bank, which recently reported a 31-percent growth in second quarter net profit, was the day’s most actively traded company.
Metro Pacific added 3.02 percent while Megaworld rose by 2.17 percent.