The local stock barometer fell below the 5,800 level on Tuesday as investors braced for weakening domestic economic fundamentals and rising geopolitical tension.
Reopening after a long weekend break, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) tumbled by 84.94 points or 1.44 percent to close at 5,799.24.
Investors rushed to sell before the closing bell after delaying selling at opening, said Christopher Mangun, head of research at AAA Equities.
“All hopes of an economic recovery in third quarter, once lockdown restrictions were eased, have been dashed by the reality that consumers should be thrifty and hold on to cash because of the uncertainty,” Mangun said.
Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regiona Capital Development, said escalating anti-China tension had added to the market’s woes. He noted Beijing’s jailing of Cheng Lei, an Australian who works as an anchor for Chinese government-run CGTN. He also cited reports about the United States going after Chinese companies, not only TikTok as China started antidumping investigation on certain glycol ethers imports from the United States. Meanwhile, China had demanded the withdrawal of Indian troops from its border to avoid escalation of tension.
Papa Securities expects muted market movement this week given a lack of immediate catalysts.
“A closer look at technicals, however, would show that bias could be a downward drift to the next support at 5,600 especially as the index closed lower than what should have been a strong support at 5,900. Maybe the index will finally make a move as we approach the end of the ghost month next next week,” the brokerage said.
The “ghost month” in the Lunar calendar began on Aug. 19 and will last until Sept. 16. During this period, some Asian investors tend to defer big moves or aggressive investing.
The local index was weighed down most by the holding firm counter, which fell by 2.14 percent, while the services counter also fell by nearly 2 percent.
The property counter declined by 1.76 percent.
On the other hand, the mining/oil counter added 3.57 percent, while the financial and industrial counters both added less than 1 percent.
Value turnover for the day amounted to P6.86 billion. There was modest net foreign selling of P261.55 million.
There were 99 decliners that outnumbered 85 advancers, while 57 stocks were unchanged.
The PSEi was weighed down most by JG Summit, which slid by 4.43 percent, while GT Capital, Ayala Corp., ICTSI, Puregold and Meralco, which all declined by over 3 percent.
SM Prime and Globe Telecom both lost over 2 percent.
SM Investments, Ayala Land and Jollibee all declined by over 1 percent, while PLDT and Metro Pacific Investments all slipped by less than 1 percent.
Outside of the PSEi basket, notable decliners included newly-listed MerryMart, which fell by 3.06 percent.
On the other hand, URC gained 3.41 percent, while BDO added 1.86 percent. BPI rose by 0.45 percent.
One notable gainer outside the PSEi was Century Pacific, which added 1.11 percent. INQ
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