PSEi falls 1.05% as foreign selling continues

The local stock barometer slipped for the fifth straight session on Wednesday as foreign outflows escalated alongside sluggish sentiment across the region.The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 60.85 points or 1.05 percent to close at 5,738.39.

The PSEi was bludgeoned by about P1.64 billion worth of net foreign selling.

Tuesday’s sell-off close that brought down the PSEi below 5,800, Papa Securities said, might lead to further decline toward what could be a strong support level of 5,700—approximating the August low and June breakout point. “It’s  important that the index hold this level as a fall below would constitute a lower low for the PSEi and a confirmation of the index’s downtrend,” it said. On the positive side, it said a bounce would signal a potential double-bottom pattern for the index.

The index was weighed down most by the property counter, which fell by 2.54 percent, and the financial counter, down by 1.63 percent.The industrial, holding firm and mining/oil counters slipped by less than 1 percent. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla