The local stock barometer slumped below the 7,800 mark on Monday, trailing way behind other regional markets ahead of the long Lenten break.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 92.84 points, or 1.18 percent to close at 7,787.98, slipping for the third straight session.
“Investors continued to take money off the table given the short trading week. There’s some support at 7,750 and combined with sustained foreign buying, today’s dip could be treated as a buying opportunity,” said PNB Securities president Manuel Lisbona.
“First quarter results and a potential BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) rate cut are the catalysts to watch for pushing the market upward,” he added.
Papa Securities said the index could track the range between the initial support and resistance levels of 7,700 and 8,000, respectively.
“The story remains the same for the index with the PSEi likely trading sideways for the remainder of the short week on a lack of immediate catalysts, followed by the Holy Week holidays,” Papa Securities said.
The stock market will trade for only three days this week. It will pause for the Lenten break on Thursday and Friday.
Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.87 billion. There were 107 decliners that edged out 87 advancers, while 87 stocks were unchanged.
The PSEi was weighed down most by conglomerate San Miguel Corp., which slid by 4.24 percent.
Puregold, Bloomberry and URC all lost over 3 percent.
AGI and SM Investments both fell by over 2 percent, while Metrobank and GT Capital both declined by more than 1 percent.
SM Prime, ICTSI, Ayala Corp. and BPI all slipped by less than 1 percent.
One notable decliner outside the PSEi was PNB, which slid by 5.56 percent.
On the other hand, Ayala Land., BDO and Megaworld slightly gained.
Among the notable gainers outside the PSEi was SSI Group, which gained 3.59 percent, after announcing a 41-percent year-on-year growth in fourth quarter recurring net income to P293 million.
San Miguel Food and Beverage also rose by 0.63 percent.