PH shares sink on foreign selling

The local stock barometer faltered by nearly 1 percent on Friday as investors shifted some cash to new equity deals.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 77.26 points, or 0.98 percent, to close at 7,819.22.

The market was weighed down by around P464 million worth of net foreign selling.

“We’re nearing the month of October, and October is always not good for the stock market,” said Joseph Roxas, president of local stock brokerage Eagle Equities, explaining the sluggish investor appetite.

“Also, some money went to the IPOs (initial public offerings),” he added.

Leading integrated coconut product manufacturer Axelum Resources Corp. started its P4-billion offering on Sept. 24 and this would run until Sept. 30, with the target listing date on Oct. 7.

Villar-led AllHome is also coming to the market from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4, bringing the equity deal to as much as P14.83 billion.

All counters ended in the red. The most battered was the mining counter, which lost 2.63 percent.

The holding firm and property counters both fell by over 1 percent.

Value turnover amounted to P5.92 billion. There were 133 decliners that overshadowed 57 advancers, while 43 stocks were unchanged.

Megaworld slid by 6.89 percent while parent conglomerate AGI lost 3.54 percent. Traders said this could be due to concerns over the beleaguered online gaming sector following the recent raid on a tax-deficient online gaming firm in Eastwood.

ICTSI also fell by 3.54 percent while JG Summit lost 2.65 percent. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA