Stocks down on external worries

The local stock barometer slipped on Tuesday as investors tempered monetary easing expectations following the recent attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil fields.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 64.67 points or 0.81 percent to close at 7,932.23, tracking the overnight decline of US stocks.

AAA Securities head of research Christopher Mangun said that a few days ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, there was uncertainty on whether the Fed would cut rates.

“Investors are also concerned about new tension between the US and Iran as the latter has been blamed for the drone strikes in Saudi,” Mangun said.

At the local market, Mangun said investors were still on the sidelines, unconvinced that the market would rise.

“There also may be some concern that inflation will rise because of higher oil prices. Overall, the market remains in limbo,” he added.

The most battered for the day was the financial and mining/oil counters, which both tumbled by more than 2 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P5.21 billion. There was net foreign selling of P214.15 million.

There were 126 decliners that overshadowed 73 advancers, while 45 stocks were unchanged.

BDO lost 3.51 percent while Security Bank and ICTSI shed nearly 3 percent.

Ayala Land and GT Capital slipped by more than 2 percent, while SM Investments, BPI and Metrobank all lost over 1 percent.

Outside of the PSEi, notable decliners included Phinma Energy and Nickel Asia, which respectively slid by 6.69 percent and 4.43 percent.