PH shares down on currency jitters

The local stock barometer dipped on Friday as jitters over the falling Turkish lira and Russian rouble dampened regional sentiment.

Reversing a slight gain in early trade, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) declined by 15.73 points or 0.2 percent to close at 7,804.98 as investors factored in more local corporate earnings reports alongside regional concerns.

Investors also weighed the local central bank’s hawkish bias amid slowing domestic economic growth.

On Thursday, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas raised key interest rates by 50 basis points while earlier that day, Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter came in at 6 percent, underperforming the market consensus of 6.6 percent.

While this move is “sure to put a leash on inflation,” local stock brokerage Papa Securities said the 6-percent GDP growth was a “curveball that should have been considered more carefully, so much more that no one was able to see this coming.”

Except for the mining/oil counter, all subindices declined.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P8.33 billion.  Foreigners were net sellers amounting to P515.88 million.

Despite the PSEi’s decline, market breadth was positive.  There were 96 advancers that edged out 86 advancers while 51 stocks were unchanged. This suggested some profit-taking on large-cap stocks.

Ayala Corp., the day’s most actively traded company, dragged the overall market with its 2.48-percent decline.

Security Bank lost 1.28 percent while Ayala Land, SM Investments, BDO and Jollibee all slightly declined.

One notable decliner outside the PSEi was ATN, which slid by 8.44 percent.

On the other hand, SMC’s shares surged by 3.4 percent after announcing a share-sale by consumer subsidiary San Miguel Food and Beverage in what could be the largest equity deal in the local stock exchange.

PLDT gained 2.08 percent as the telecom giant grew core  profit in the first semester by 6 percent year-on-year to P13 billion.

AGI, RLC and Metrobank all gained over 1 percent.

Shares of URC and Semirara also firmed up.