The local stock barometer slipped for the second straight trading session on sluggish sentiment among foreign investors.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 27.76 points or 0.34 percent to close at 8,064.92.
Across the region, trading sentiment was mixed.
It was a “very slow trading day with low trading volumes and barely any movement in prices,” said Christopher Mangun, head of research at AAA Equities.
“Several second liners traded more than blue chips, which indicates the intent to find opportunities which are not present in the big blues. Nothing seems to be exciting investors in this market, and we may continue to see the PSEi go lower with immediate support at 8,000,” he added.
On Friday, the Philippine government is set to release the inflation report for June. Market consensus, based on a Bloomberg poll, is a slowdown in the year-on-year rate to 2.8 percent from 3.2 percent in May.
The market was weighed down by the industrial, holding firm, mining/oil and property counters.
On the other hand, the financial and services counters inched up.
Value turnover was thin at P5.06 billion. Trading value was at P4.52 billion, excluding block sales.
There was P216.68 million in net foreign selling during the day.
There were 94 decliners that slightly edged out 92 advancers, while 57 stocks were unchanged.
SM Investments, Metro Pacific and Meralco all declined by over 1 percent.
SM Prime, Ayala Land, Ayala Corp., ICTSI, RLC and JG Summit also slipped.
Outside of the PSEi, notable decliners included SSI and Megawide, which declined by 3.51 percent and 2.55 percent, respectively.
On the other hand, FPH gained 2.5 percent as the company announced a P5-billion stock buyback program.
BDO added 1.43 percent, while Globe Telecom, Metrobank, URC and BPI all firmed up.