Sober PSEi faces economic reality as overseas bourses party

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) was little changed on Thursday as investors remained “cautious and conservative,” a market analyst said.

By the sessions’ close, the PSEi was lower by 0.17 percent, or 9.78 points, to 5,921.55 while the broader all-shares index added 0.005 percent, or 0.17 points, to 3,544.41.

Chris Mangun, research head at stock brokerage firm AAA Equities, said local equities were more grounded in economic realities compared to overseas bourses, some of which were trading at all time highs.

He said the Philippines “still reflects losses caused by the pandemic.”

“Our market has tracked the economy more realistically compared to markets abroad. The perceived notion of a lack of stimulus from the government is also adding to the weak sentiment,” Mangun said in a research note.

Most subsectors ended lower on Thursday, with holding firms, services and property companies leading the way. Mining and oil went up over 4 percent while financials gained 1.7 percent.

Volume was heavy with a total of 5.08 billion shares valued at P17.46 billion changing hands on Thursday. There were 98 gainers versus 86 decliners while 57 companies closed unchanged.

SM Investments Corp. was the most actively traded on Thursday as it lost 1.58 percent to P873 per share.

It was followed by Ayala Land Inc., down 1 percent to P29.70; BDO Unibank, up 0.12 percent to P87.05; PLDT Inc., up 0.35 percent to P1,446; and Bank of the Philippine Islands, up 4.29 percent to P65.70 per share. —MIGUEL R. CAMUS