PH stocks falter anew as foreign funds flow out of market

The local stock barometer faltered on Tuesday, weighed down by large foreign outflows as investors scrambled to realign their portfolios to the latest MSCI rebalancing.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 63.82 points or 0.82 percent to close at 7,707.80 as investors priced in changes to MSCI Philippines, which is closely tracked by many foreign fund managers.

“It’s the last day (of trading before the MSCI rebalancing takes effect) so there’s a big surge in transactions at the last minute,” said Joseph Roxas, president of local stock brokerage Eagle Equities Inc.

“Resistance for the PSEi once the rebalancing is over and if net foreign selling abates would be at its 200-day MA (moving average) at 7,900,” local stock brokerage Papa Securities said in a research note.

The market was battered by a huge net foreign outflow of P4.8 billion.

“The PSEi’s failure to hold the 7,750 support level confirms that it wants to go lower and perhaps test the major support level at 7,500,” said Christopher Mangun, head of research at AAA Equities.

However, Mangun said investors might begin to pick up heavily battered companies, adding that “foreign selling may be coming to an end.”
The market was weighed down most by the property counter, which fell by 1.26 percent. The financial, industrial and holding firm counters also faltered.

On the other hand, the mining/oil counter rose by 2.56 percent, while the services counter added 0.43 percent.

Value turnover for the day was heavy at P21.16 billion.

There were 99 decliners that edged out 72 advancers, while 55 companies were unchanged.

Investors dumped shares of Aboitiz Power and Ayala Corp., which fell by 5.06 percent and 4.33 percent, respectively.

The day’s most actively traded company was AGI, which lost 3.23 percent.

AGI and DMCI will be removed from the MSCI Philippines index as the latest rebalancing takes effect at the end of trading on Tuesday.

`Ayala Land and BPI also fell by over 3 percent, while AEV and JG Summit lost over 2 percent.

Jollibee declined by 1.13 percent, while SM Prime, Metrobank, Meralco, GT Capital and Metro Pacific all slipped.

On the other hand, SM Investments, ICTSI and PLDT all added over 1 percent.

After the previous days’ sell-off, DMCI rose by 0.15 percent, while URC added 0.53 percent.