PH stocks slip as investors pocket gains

The local stock barometer slipped on Tuesday as investors pocketed recent gains, but foreign inflows tempered the decline.

The local stock barometer lost 38.06 points or 0.47 percent to close at 8,150.46 on Tuesday, defying the upswing seen elsewhere in the region.

“It would have closed lower if not for the foreign buying that we saw today,” said AAA Securities head of research Christopher Mangun, citing the P631 million worth of net foreign buying for the day.

While the PSEi was able to stay above the support at 8,150 —the barrier that defines local bull territory—Mangun said the market was “looking weaker and weaker by the day.”

“We hope it can maintain its range of 8,150 and 8,300,” he said.

The PSEi was weighed down most by the industrial, holding firm, mining/oil and property counters.

On the other hand, the financial and services counters firmed up.

Total value turnover for the day amounted to P6.87 billion.

There were 115 decliners that edged out 85 advancers while 49 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was weighed down most by Globe Telecom, which fell by 3.1 percent.

Semirara lost 2.51 percent, while SM Prime, URC, Ayala Corp., DMCI and Meralco all declined by over 1 percent.

SM Investments, BDO, Ayala Land and First Gen also slipped.

Outside the PSEi, Abacore lost 7.62 percent.

Abacore Capital Holdings Inc., meanwhile, owns 1.85 percent of Pacific Online, which had been leasing since 1995 online lottery systems to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) for the Visayas and Mindanao.

President Duterte recently ordered the shutdown of all PCSO-sanctioned lotto, small town lottery and other gaming outlets.

On the other hand, ICTSI rallied by 4.65 percent.

Jollibee, BPI, Metrobank, PLDT and Metro Pacific also inched up.

One notable gainer outside the PSEi was Filinvest Land, which added 1.04 percent.