The local stock barometer dipped below 7,800 on Thursday, bucking the upswing seen across most markets in the region as US-China trade deal jitters eased.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell by 25.02 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 7,790.91.
Christopher Mangun, head of research at AAA Equities, said most Asian markets tracked the overnight rise in Western markets amid reports that the US and China were close to a “phase one” deal alongside comments from US President Donald Trump that the talks were going very well even a final deal may not happen until after the 2020 election.
“Here at the PSE it was a different story, the main index ended slightly lower on average trading volumes and minor foreign inflows (P37 million net foreign inflow),” he said.
Mangun also noted that Philippine inflation for the month of November had come in at 1.3 percent, ending the downtrend which, however, did not come as a surprise. “This had almost no effect on the market as investors ignore fundamentals and focus on the sentiment. We still believe the PSEi can end the week above 7,800,” he said.
Services led the day’s decline, losing 2 percent. The industrial, mining/oil and property counters declined by less than 1 percent.
On the other hand, the holding firm counter added 0.25 percent.
Value turnover amounted to P6.51 billion.
There were 117 decliners that overwhelmed 68 advancers, while 54 stocks were unchanged.
ICTSI, Metro Pacific and URC all declined by over 3 percent, while PLDT lost 2.8 percent.
DMCI also lost 1.92 percent.
Metro Pacific and DMCI have been battered by President Duterte’s threats against water concessionaires in the last two days.
BDO, SM Prime, Security Bank, AGI and Metrobank also declined.
On the other hand, AEV advanced by 4.6 percent while Jollibee added 3.54 percent.
Megaworld gained 2.87 percent while BPI rose by 1.07 percent.
The country’s largest conglomerate SM Investments also slightly gained.