Stocks continue to weaken

The local stock barometer fell to the 7,800 mark on Tuesday as investors lacked fresh catalysts to buy local equities.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 76.83 points, or 0.97 points, to close at 7,833.75, tracking mostly sluggish regional markets.

“The story for the PSEi would likely remain the same in the coming days with lackluster movements on account of a lack of immediate catalysts — more so with US markets remaining closed (Monday) night due to the President’s Day holiday. Movements we could see in the local front are more likely to be tied up to the recent PSEi and FTSE rebalancing news flows,” local stockbrokerage Papa Securities said.

The trend bias is still to move downward to the more significant 7,700-7,800 support area, Papa Securities said.

All counters ended lower, led by property, which slumped by 1.57 percent.

Foreign investors turned from net buyers to mostly net sellers, resulting in P289.39 million in net foreign outflow from the local market.

Total value turnover for the day amounted to P8.1 billion.

There were 132 companies that declined, while 84 companies gained and 39 were unchanged.

Investors unloaded shares of Ayala Land, BDO and URC, which all lost more than 3 percent.

JG Summit gave up 2.24 percent while SMC fell by 0.29 percent after both sharply gained on Monday following their inclusion in FTSE indices.

Bloomberry lost 2.48 percent as the market factored in its inclusion in the PSEi.

AEV also slipped by 2.2 percent while SM Prime fell by 1.57 percent. Jollibee, ICTSI, PLDT and Ayala Corp. all declined.

Outside the PSEi basket, one notable decliner was Vista Land, which slid by 6.25 percent in heavy volume. The company was the subject of a short-lived play last week.

San Miguel Food also lost 2.35 percent, pulling back after Monday’s rally triggered by its inclusion in key FTSE indices.

On the other hand, RLC gained 6.86 percent while Megaworld surged by 5.27 percent.