The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) declined alongside other regional bourses on Thursday after Wall Street plunged overnight on recession worries.
The PSEi ended the session lower by 0.38 percent, or 29.79 points, 7,828.86. Buying support helped pare losses of almost 3 percent earlier in the session.
The broader all-shares index was also down 0.47 percent, or 22.57 points, to 4,746.35.
“Local shares opened sharply lower, before finishing just 30 points down as weak economic data from China, GDP contraction in Germany, and the first inverted US yield curve in more than 12 years stoked fears of a global recession,” Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development, said on Thursday.
Despite negative sentiments, the holding firms’ subsector managed to end in the green with a 0.63-percent gain.
Losers yesterday were led by mining and oil, down 1.92 percent, followed by services, down 1.23 percent, and financials, down 1.13 percent.
Buying volume picked up, with 788.99 million shares valued at P11.8 billion changing hands. Data from the PSE showed a number of block sales, the largest of which was China Banking Corp. (P3.27 billion) followed by Ayala Corp. (P828.56 million).
Decliners outnumbered gainers 149 to 54 while 42 companies closed unchanged. Net foreign selling stood at P1.75 billion on Thursday.
Ayala Land Inc. was the most actively traded on Thursday as it sank 0.1 percent to P48.85 per share.
It was followed by SM Prime Holdings, down 2.82 percent to P34.50; SM Investments Corp., up 1.59 percent to P1,020; Megaworld Corp., up 2.08 percent to P5.39; and BDO Unibank Inc., down 2.36 percent to P145 per share.
Other actively traded companies were International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 2.75 percent to P124; Universal Robina Corp., down 2.06 percent to P166; Ayala Corp., down 0.11 percent to P934; Jollibee Foods Corp., up 0.43 percent to P235.20; and Alliance Global Group, down 4.66 percent to P12.68 per share.