PSEi down 0.78% on foreign selling

The local stock barometer slipped below the 6,300 mark on Tuesday, bucking the upswing seen elsewhere in the region, as foreign funds flowed out of the market.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 49.65 points, or 0.78 percent, to close at 6,297.78.

“The story continues with a lack of any catalysts in the local market, leaving the PSEi to trade sideways in the near term once again,” stock brokerage Papa Securities said.

“On the bright side, technicals for the PSEi are shaping up with its 20-day moving average support steadily moving up, now at 6,150,” it said.

The PSEi was weighed down most by property and holding firm counters, both down by over 1 percent.

The industrial and services counters both fell by less than 1 percent.

The financial and mining/oil counters added 1.11 percent and 2.04 percent, respectively.

Value turnover for the day hit P7.31 billion. There was P1.15 billion in net foreign selling for the day.

There were 103 advancers and 98 decliners, while 45 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was weighed down by fast food giant Jollibee and index heavyweight SM Investments, which declined by 3.42 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively.

Ayala Land, Metrobank, SM Prime, JG Summit and Megaworld all fell by over 1 percent.

PLDT and URC both slipped by less than 1 percent.

Outside of the PSEi, Dito fell by 0.54 percent in relatively heavy volume.

Security bank, Metro Pacific, GT Capital and BDO all rose by more than 3 percent.

Ayala Corp. added 1.25 percent, while AGI, Globe Telecom and International Container Terminal Services Inc. all firmed up by less than 1 percent.MerryMart gained 3.06 percent and was the day’s most actively traded company.

Emperador added 0.13 percent in heavy volume. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla INQ