PSEi slips below 7,500 on US-China row

The local stock barometer slid below the 7,500 mark on Friday, weighed down by more foreign selling ahead of a long Christmas break.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell by 83.7 points, or 1.11 percent, to close at 7,479.71, tracking an overnight bloodbath in Wall Street. Regional markets were also sluggish amid renewed US-China trade tensions.

For the week, the index slipped by 44.66 points, or 0.6 percent.

On Friday, China lashed out at the US justice department’s charges that Chinese officials were allegedly involved in an espionage to steal intellectual property and other data from US companies.

At the local market, all counters ended in the red, led by the financial, mining/oil and property counters, which all fell by more than 1 percent.

The industrial, holding firm and services counters all dipped.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.09 billion. Foreigners were net sellers ahead of the long weekend break, resulting in P480.63 million worth of net foreign outflows.

There were 123 decliners that edged out 59 advancers, while 47 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was weighed down most by Semirara and BPI, which respectively fell by 4.26 percent and 3.36 percent.

SM Prime and SM Investments both lost more than 2 percent, while Ayala Land, Metrobank, PLDT and AEV all declined by over 1 percent.

On the other hand, BDO, Ayala Corp., Jollibee, URC and GT Capital all slipped.

On the other hand, JG Summit defied the day’s downturn with its 3.7-percent gain.

Aboitiz Power added 1.89 percent while ICTSI and Metro Pacific also firmed up.

Trading at the stock market will resume on Wednesday (Dec. 26).