Financial, holding firms drag PSEi lower

The local stock barometer slipped on Thursday as investors priced in a lower-than-expected second-quarter Philippine economic growth alongside a hawkish Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 30.75 points or 0.39 percent to close at 7,820.71.

The index fell to as low as 7,751.42 in intraday trade after it was reported that the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) grew by only 6 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, below the 6.6-percent market consensus.

Towards the end of the session, however, the market recovered as the market anticipated a more aggressive move during the BSP’s monetary setting after the trading session. As widely expected, the BSP raised its overnight borrowing rate by 50 basis points to 4 percent.

The PSEi was weighed down most by the financial, holding firm, services and mining/oil counters. On the other hand, the industrial and property counters slightly gained.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P6.33 billion. There was net foreign buying worth P322.97 million for the day.

There were 121 decliners that edged out 90 advancers while 34 stocks were unchanged.

Globe and Jollibee both slipped by more than 2 percent. SM Prime, Metro Pacific, ICTSI and Metrobank all declined by over 1 percent. BDO, PLDT, Ayala Corp., SM Investments and GT Capital all dipped.

Notable decliners outside the index included ATN and TBGI, which respectively fell by 3.14 percent and 3.95 percent.