PSEi falls, closes below 7,000 mark

The local stock barometer yesterday fell below the 7,000 mark as investors continued to dump incumbent telecom players while overall sentiment across the region was sluggish due to concerns on China’s economy.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 66.89 points or 0.95 percent to close at 6,968.82.  Foreign investors continued to sell equities, resulting in P598.19 million in net foreign outflow for the day.

Elsewhere in the region, stock markets tumbled on news that China was set to curb bank lending to private companies.

All counters declined, led by the services counter which fell by 2.04 percent as investors continued to dump PLDT and Globe —which respectively fell by 4.98 percent and 5.21 percent.

The government recently named the consortium led by Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy and China Telecom as the provisional third telecom player in the country.

Uy’s holding firm ISM continued to sizzle at the stock market, gaining 7.94 percent.  It was the day’s most actively traded stock. Other affiliate firms PXP and Chelsea also gained by 3.39 percent and 0.78 percent, respectively, in heavy trade.

Among blue chips, the battered issuers included BPI and AGI, which fell by 3.38 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.

Ayala Land lost 1.3 percent while ICTSI, SM Prime, BDO, Ayala Corp. and Jollibee also fell.

Notable decliners outside the PSEi include Vulcan Mining, which lost 9.55 percent.  This was to be the backdoor-listing vehicle of a previous third telco contender, Dennis Uy of Pampanga-led ConvergeICT, but eventually did not participate in the bidding.

Another notable gainer outside the PSEi was NOW   Corp., which was up 24.49 percent.

NOW Telecom has a pending legal case against the National Telecommunications Commission over .  It sued the regulator for four “onerous” provisions in the terms of reference (TOR) of the bidding and is also claiming rights over 140mhz out of the 225mhz frequency award.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P5.96 billion.

Market breadth was positive as investors scouted for buying opportunities outside the main index.  There were 105 advancers that edged out 84 decliners while 53 stocks were unchanged.