PSEi closes slightly down as inflation report erodes market sentiment
The local stock barometer ended flat on Friday while value turnover remained relatively thin as investors conserved liquidity for the upcoming P14.7-billion initial public offering of DoubleDragon’s real estate investment trust.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dipped by 1.12 points or 0.02 percent to close at 6,881.37, in line with mostly sluggish regional markets. For the week, the PSEi managed to gain 86.51 points or about 1.3 percent.
The overshooting of the 4 percent upper end of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ inflation target also gnawed on market sentiment. Philippine consumer prices rose at a faster pace of 4.7 percent year-on-year in February from 4.2 percent in January.
Continued net foreign selling likewise weighed down the market. Net foreign outflows for the day hit P595.7 million.
The mining/oil counter slipped by 2.45 percent, while the industrial and holding firm counters both shed less than 1 percent.The PSEi’s decline was tempered by the services counter, which gained 1.05 percent.
The financial and property counters both rose by less than 1 percent.
Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.73 billion, which is relatively lower than what was seen in previous weeks.The PSEi was weighed down most by URC and BPI, which fell by 2.36 percent and 1.82 percent, respectively.
Security Bank dropped by 1.08 percent, while Globe Telecom slipped by 0.4 percent.
