The local stock barometer slipped for the fourth session in a row on Wednesday as the market, dominated by local retail investors, ditched blue chips in favor of speculative stocks.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) declined by 55.15 points or 0.77 percent to close at 7,143.30.
“Blue chip shares of the Philippines were sold down again as investors went for riskier assets in the anticipation of fast vaccine distribution and another round of fiscal aid ahead. Many continued to monitor the inauguration of [US president-elect] Joe Biden, while taking notes on the confirmation hearing of Janet Yellen (Biden nominee for treasury secretary),” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development.
The market was dragged down most by the mining/oil counter, which fell by 2.19 percent.
The industrial and holding firm counters both declined by over 1 percent, while the financial and property counters slipped by less than 1 percent.
The services counter bucked the day’s downturn, gaining 1.34 percent.
Value turnover for the day amounted to P13.1 billion.
There were 137 decliners that outnumbered 91 advancers, while 40 stocks were unchanged.
The PSEi was weighed down most by the country’s oldest conglomerate Ayala Corp., which lost 3.75 percent, while its property arm, Ayala Land, lost 2.02 percent.
URC and Jollibee both tumbled by over 1 percent, while SM Investments slipped by less than 1 percent.
Speculative stocks continued to dominate the market, but some have pulled back after extraordinary gains in previous days.
Oriental Petroleum fell by 30 percent, while Abra Mining and Philodrill lost 22.73 percent and 14.29 percent, respectively.
Other notable decliners outside the PSEi were Premiere Horizon, MRC Allied and Basic Energy, which slid by 9.35 percent, 6.82 percent and 4.52 percent, respectively.
On the other hand, other investors loaded up on non-PSEi stocks, like Apollo Global, which surged by 17.81 percent and was the top traded company for the day.
Abacore Capital gained 2.22 percent while Altus Property surged by 43 percent.
Other notable gainers outside the PSEi were DFNN and AC Energy, which gained 8.42 percent and 1.67 percent, respectively.
One notable gainer within the PSEi was ICTSI, which rose by 1.26 percent. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA