PSEi slumps to 7,800 on trade war jitters

The local stock barometer slumped to the 7,800 level on Tuesday, but some investors found relief in the sustained rise of nickel mining stocks.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gave up 113.82 points or 1.44 percent to close at 7,804.71.

“Asian equities markets had mixed results again as investors remain concerned about the ongoing trade war and what the effects are going to be on global economies. Western markets also ended flat in last night’s trading session,” AAA Equities head of research Christopher Mangun said.

At the local market, all counters slipped, except for the mining/oil counter, which gained 2.49 percent as nickel miners benefitted from news that Indonesia will ban nickel ore exports by January 2020, two years ahead of its original plan.

“This may be a bright spot for Philippine mining,” Mangun said.

For the second straight session, Nickel Asia was the most actively traded company, rising by 9.49 percent.

Global Ferronickel likewise gained 13.1 percent in heavy volume.

“The PSEi broke below its support of 7,920 and may now test the next support line at 7,750,” Mangun said.

Value turnover amounted to P6.83 billion. There were 125 decliners that edged out 67 advancers while 56 stocks were unchanged.

There was a modest net foreign buying of P105 million.

The PSEi was weighed down most by AHI, which fell by close to 4 percent, while DMCI lost over 3 percent.

SM Prime, Ayala Corp., BDO, SM Investments, ICTSI and JG Summit all declined by over 2 percent.

URC, Jollibee and PLDT all lost over 1 percent, while Ayala Land and First Gen both declined.

One PSEi company that bucked the day’s downturn was Security Bank, which gained 3.02 percent.