Lockdown jitters send PSEi down 1.14%

The local stock barometer slipped during the penultimate trading session of 2020, bucking the upswing across regional markets, due to fresh local lockdown jitters.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 82.13 points or 1.14 percent to close on Monday at 7,122.25.

“The PSEi continued lower today as we saw some panic-selling due to the anticipation of tighter lockdown restrictions,” said Christopher Mangun, head of research at AAA Equities.

“The market’s early losses were not because of massive selling pressure but the lack of buy posts as investors expected the drop and opted to pick up shares at lower prices. Once sellers stopped dumping at the lower prices, buyers came back in, pushing prices higher and limiting losses for the day,” he said.

After breaking below its support at 7,200 and failing to recover back to this level, Mangun said the PSEi might continue lower toward 7,000 before recovering.

All counters ended in the red, led by the financial and holding firm subindices which lost 1.99 percent and 1.67 percent, respectively. The rest declined by less than 1 percent.

Total value turnover for the day hit P8.14 billion. Net foreign selling amounted to P98 million.