Market sinks deeper into bear territory

The local stock barometer sank deeper into bear territory on Tuesday on local inflation jitters alongside sluggish regional markets.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 89.72 points or 1.24 percent to close at 7,132.36.

Investors are trading with caution ahead of the release of the September inflation figure this week. With substantial crop damage from Typhoon “Ompong,” investors are bracing for higher numbers.

“We might see more of the low value turnover in the next few days as the market awaits Friday’s inflation release,” local stockbrokerage Papa Securities said.

Initial support for the index is seen at 7,078.61. To date, the PSEi has pulled back by 1,946.01 points or 21.4 percent from the record peak of 9,078.37 seen on Jan. 29.

All counters ended in the red, weighed down most by the property counter, which slid by 3.66 percent.

The mining/oil counter was also bludgeoned (-2.5 percent).

Total value turnover for the day amounted to P5.7 billion. There was P397.4 million worth of net foreign selling for the day.

There were 112 decliners that outnumbered 72 advancers while 56 stocks were unchanged.

Investors dumped shares of property giants SM Prime and Ayala Land, which fell by 5.05 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively. These were the two most actively traded companies.

Integrated coal mining and power firm Semirara lost 5.77 percent. Puregold fell by more than 3 percent, while Security Bank and LTG declined by over 2 percent.

BPI was down by 1.38 percent, while SM Investments, BDO, Jollibee, Metro Pacific and Globe Telecom also slipped.

Outside the PSEi, notable decliners included D&L (-1.12 percent) and Bloomberry (-1.8 percent).

On the other hand, Meralco racked up 3.07 percent, while Ayala Corp. added 1.65 percent.

Metrobank and its parent conglomerate GT Capital also firmed up.

One notable gainer outside the PSEi was PXP, which rose by 2.03 percent.