PSEi slips lower as investors wait for quake damage info

MANILA, Philippines — The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) slipped lower on Tuesday as investors waited for more information on the damage caused by two earthquakes that struck Luzon and Visayas, an analyst said.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index was down 0.17 percent, or 13.50 points, to 7,818.93 while the broader all-shares index was up 0.09 percent to 4,839.04.

The Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology said on Tuesday that a magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit San Julian, Eastern Samar in Visayas less than a day after a magnitude 6.1 quake struck Zambales in Luzon.

“Value turnover remained thin and sentiments cautious,” Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development, said on Tuesday.

Data from the PSE showed that only the property subsector ended in positive territory as it gained 0.85 percent. Losers were led by services, down 0.84 percent, followed by holding firms, down 0.49 percent.

Table from the PSE website

Volume was relatively thin with about 569.4 million shares valued at P6.6 billion changing hands. There were 120 decliners against 72 gainers while 47 companies closed unchanged.

Ayala Land Inc. was the most actively traded on Tuesday as it closed unchanged at P47 per share. It was followed by Ayala Corp., down 1.93 percent to P865, International Container Terminal Services, down 1.39 percent to P127.50, Jollibee Foods Corp., down 0.26 percent to P302.20 and BDO Unibank Inc., up 0.45 percent to P133.60 per share.

/atm