PH market nearly falls off 8,000 mark

The local stock barometer slipped for the second straight session but stayed above 8,000 on Wednesday as trade war and US interest rate jitters spooked regional markets.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 20.52 points, or 0.26 percent,

to close at 8,013.57, tracking sluggish sentiment across the region.

Foreign selling intensified, resulting in P573.62 million in net outflow from the local bourse.

Meanwhile, the US dollar slightly gained against major currencies after the chief of St. Louis Federal Reserve said a US Fed rate cut might be timely but downplayed prospects for a 50-basis point cut.

“The comments caused traders to briefly pare rate-cut odds, but the shift was mostly pared after Fed chair Jerome Powell reiterated the case for lower borrowing costs,” said BDO Unibank chief strategist Jonathan Ravelas.

On the other hand, lingering US-China trade tensions also curbed risk-taking across the region.

The market was weighed down most by the financial, industrial, holding firm and services counters.

On the other hand, the mining/oil and property counters inched up.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P8.13 billion.

There were 108 decliners that edged out 86 advancers, while 56 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was dragged down by SM Investments, URC, BPI, Metrobank, First Gen, AGI and RRHI, all declining by over 1 percent.

SM Prime, Ayala Corp., Megaworld, ICTSI and Jollibee all slipped.

Outside the PSEi, one notable decliner was GMA PDR, which fell by 1.46 percent.

Meanwhile, Globe Telecom rose by 2.73 percent, while Ayala Land and BDO both gained.

One big gainer outside the PSEi was Filinvest Land, which surged by 8.72 percent.  Some 1.27 billion worth of shares equivalent to over 5 percent of the company changed hands at P1.75 per share.