The local stock barometer slipped below the 7,800 mark on Friday as investors trimmed their exposure in selected large-cap stocks as the second quarter corporate earnings reporting season ended.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell by 32.88 points, or 0.42 percent, to close at 7,795.98 ahead of the index rebalancing, which will take effect on Monday.
For the week, the PSEi lost 58.41 points, or 0.74 percent. The index has declined for two days in a row.
Papa Securities said the PSEi’s next support levels were in the area of the intraday lows in the past two days of around 7,620, followed by the intraday low of 7,475 in May.
The market was weighed down most by the financial counter, which fell by 1.46 percent. The industrial, services and mining/oil counters also slipped.
The holding firm and property counters slightly gained.
Value turnover for the day reached P8.69 billion. Local investors dragged the market down while foreign investors were net buyers albeit at a modest size of P298.69 million.
Despite the PSEi’s decline, market breadth was positive. There were 127 advancers that edged out 73 decliners, while 47 stocks were unchanged.
Among the most battered in the PSEi basket was JG Summit, which slid by 4.51 percent while its industrial arm, URC, lost 2.41 percent.
BDO and Globe Telecom both declined by over 2 percent, while PLDT and Megaworld lost about 2 percent.
SM Prime and BPI slipped by over 1 percent while Metrobank slightly declined.
Outside of PSEi stocks, one notable decliner was Phinma Energy, which lost 2.72 percent.
San Miguel Corp. gained 4.38 percent as the conglomerate sealed the deal for its massive new airport project in Bulacan.
Metro Pacific and ICTSI both added over 3 percent, while AGI rose by 2.68 percent.
SM Investments, Ayala Land, Ayala Corp., Jollibee and GT Capital firmed up. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA