Local stocks mirror global slump

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell below the 7,000 level on Thursday, joining a global sell-off after a massive slump in Wall Street overnight.

The PSEi closed the session at 6,966.84, down 2.28 percent, or 162.58 points. The drop mirrored indices across the region as investors were spooked by the more than 600-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a loss of 2.4 percent, amid disappointing corporate earnings. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 also lost 3 percent and 4.43 percent, respectively.

On Thursday, the broader All-Shares index also lost 1.86 percent to 4,281.24. Total volume stood at 870.5 million shares valued at P5.4 billion.

Negative sentiments extended to all subsectors, with property leading the way with a 2.64-percent decline. On its heels was the financials subindex, down 2.52 percent, followed by industrial stocks, down 2.37 percent.

Losers vastly outnumbered gainers 146 to 38 while 34 companies closed unchanged.

Ayala Land Inc. was the most actively traded on Thursday as its investors sold it down by 2.81 percent to P38 a share. It was followed by International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 3.01 percent to P90.20; SM Prime Holdings Inc., down 2.88 percent to P33.70; BDO Unibank Inc., down 3.6 percent to P115, and Universal Robina Corp., down 7.14 percent to P130 a share.

Other actively traded firms were PXP Energy Corp., up 7.32 percent to P17.60; SM Investments Corp., down 2.66 percent to P860; Ayala Corp., down 2.2 percent to P890; Metrobank, down 1.8 percent to P65.30, and Security Bank Corp., down 5.17 percent to P137.50 a share.