Local stocks reflect regional weakness

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) continued to ease lower on Friday as weak sentiments across the region prevailed.

The PSEi was down 0.99 percent, or 74.26 points to 7,461.06 while the broader All-Shares index lost 0.77 percent at 4,495.88.

“It seems like we saw a repeat of yesterday’s activity [on Friday] as the index traded in the red for the full day and closed near the low again,” said Arbee Lu, head of online trading at Papa Securities.

Volume on Friday was relatively low, with 2.3 billion shares valued at P6.29 billion changing hands.

There were 110 decliners against 80 gainers, while 42 companies closed unchanged.

On a subsector basis, only financials closed in positive territory, gaining 0.27 percent.

Holding firms, down 2 percent, declined the most, while mining and oil dropped 1.68 percent.

Property giant Ayala Land Inc. was the most actively traded for the session as it lost 2.74 percent to P40.75 a share.

It was followed by BDO Unibank Inc., down 0.45 percent to P133.20; Ayala Corp., down 2.57 percent to P910; Pilipinas Shell Petroleum, up 0.94 percent to P48.45; and Melco Resorts, unchanged at P7.25 a share.

Other actively traded stocks were SM Investments Corp., down 1.05 percent to P940; Jollibee Foods Corp., down 0.34 percent to P295; Bank of the Philippine Islands, up 1.13 percent to P94.25; Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., up 1.01 percent to P79.80, and JG Summit Holdings, down 3.65 percent to P50.10 per share.