Renewed concerns over COVID-19 restrictions bring down PSEi to 7,227

The local stock barometer slipped for the first time in three days on Tuesday as regional markets turned jittery over fresh pandemic-related restrictions looming in Europe and other parts of the globe.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 53.62 points, or 0.74 percent, to close at 7,227.73, tracking sluggish sentiment across the region.

London announced that it was moving into the highest tier of coronavirus restrictions, following the curbs elsewhere in the United Kingdom, while Netherlands, Turkey, France and Germany were likewise tightening their lockdown measures.

“While the narrative of further vaccine headlines in the immediate term would likely keep optimism up, it seems like US markets are starting to see cracks and what might have been a sell on news scenario last night with the S&P and Dow correcting from their intraday highs,” Papa Securities said.

“Similarly, this lends credence to our technical view that any further rally for the PSEi before the year-ends might already be capped at the 7,500 resistance,” it added.

It would be best to keep watch on US indices in the coming days especially if the profit-taking in Wall Street persists, the brokerage said.

At the local market, the index was weighed down most by the holding firm counter, which slumped by 1.13 percent. The industrial, services, mining/oil and property counters all slipped by less than 1 percent.The financial subindex added a meager 0.05 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P10.13 billion. There was P615.94 million worth of net foreign selling for the day.

There were 128 decliners that outnumbered 95 advancers, while 49 stocks were unchanged. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla INQ