PH stocks weaken, buck regional uptrend

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) weakened on Monday, bucking otherwise positive sentiments in the region.

The PSEi dropped 0.66 percent, or 52.02 points, to 7,880.94 while the broader all-shares index also declined 0.66 percent along with all subsectors.

Regional bourses mostly gained as investors awaited further developments on the United States-China trade row. Such sentiments failed to lift local stocks, which also suffered from low trading volume on Monday.

Dragging subsectors was the 2.2-percent drop in mining and oil, followed by property, down 1.12 percent; industrial, down 0.66 percent.

A total of 430.5 million shares valued at P4.32 billion changed hands on Monday. Data from the PSE showed 129 losers versus 52 gainers while 51 stocks closed unchanged.

The Sy family’s main holding company SM Investments Corp. was the most actively traded on Monday as it gained 0.75 percent to P1,068 per share.

It was followed by Ayala Land Inc., down 2.29 percent to P44.90; SM Prime Holdings Inc., unchanged at P39.90; Jollibee Food Corp., unchanged at P202; and PLDT Inc., down 0.18 percent to P1,102 per share.

Other actively traded companies were BDO Unibank Inc., down 0.64 percent to P155; Metropolitan Bank & Trust, down 0.88 percent to P67.30; Ayala Corp., down 0.78 percent to P823.50; AllHome Corp., up 0.35 percent to P11.52 and Universal Robina Corp., up 0.13 percent to P151.30 per share.

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