Inflation concerns weigh on stocks; PSEi slips

The local stock barometer slipped on Monday as inflation concerns continued to dampen market sentiment.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 42.62 points, or 0.61 percent to close at 6,926.20 amid lackluster trading across regional markets.

“Philippine shares seem to remain weak given the index breakdown at 7,000. Slight miss in inflation dragged market sentiment. Foreign selling remains relentless as real interest rate (nominal interest rate at 4.5 percent versus inflation at 6.7 percent) remains negative compared to Asian peers,” Papa Securities analyst Gio Perez said in a research note.

The next support level for the PSEi stood at 6,870, Eagle Equities head of research Christopher Mangun said, adding that “a break below it puts the index back [to] a negative trend.”

The decline was led by the industrial counter, which faltered by 1.07 percent, while the financial, holding firms and services counters also slipped.

On the other hand, the mining/oil and property counters firmed up.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P6.64 billion.

There were 127 decliners that overwhelmed 68 advancers while 44 stocks were unchanged. There was P608.95 million in net foreign selling for the day.

AGI and Metro Pacific weighed down the main index, both sliding by over 4 percent. Some stock pundits said this could be in anticipation of the next MSCI rebalancing.

PLDT fell by 1.48 percent while Ayala Corp., SM Prime, ICTSI and Meralco also slipped.

Meanwhile, companies associated with Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy continued to gain as investors factored in his group’s entry as the country’s third telco provider in partnership with China Telecom.

Holding firm ISM surged by 10.29 percent while Chelsea Logistics added 3.97 percent.

PXP Energy also gained 2.95 percent on optimism on joint oil exploration with China.