PSEi falls by 1.57%, closes below 6,500

The local stock barometer slid below the 6,500 mark on Wednesday as investors trimmed their holdings ahead of the local Lenten break.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) tumbled by 102.46 points or 1.57 percent to close at 6,443.09.

“Philippine shares closed the last trading day of the quarter in the red as shares came under pressure again across the region after the 10-year (US) Treasury yield touched its highest level since January 2020. In addition, investors took precaution ahead of the long holiday and rebalanced their portfolios for window-dressing,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development.

Lockdown worries

For the shortened trading week, the PSEi lost a total of 100.73 points, or 1.54 percent, as rising coronavirus cases triggered the return of Metro Manila and adjacent provinces to stricter lockdown measures.

There will be no trading on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday in observance of the Holy Week.

All counters ended in the red, led by the property counter, which declined by 2.06 percent.

The financial, holding firm and services counters all fell by over 1 percent, while the industrial and mining/oil counters shed less than 1 percent.

Value turnover for the day amounted to about P6.5 billion. Net foreign selling worth about P1.7 billion weighed down the market.

More declinersThere were 113 decliners that outnumbered 97 advancers, while 50 stocks were unchanged.

Ayala Land, BPI and PLDT led the PSEi lower with their decline of over 3 percent.

Puregold and AEV lost over 2 percent, while BDO, SM Investments, Metrobank, SM Prime, URC, Ayala Corp., JG Summit, Globe Telecom and DMCI all tumbled by over 1 percent.

ICTSI shed less than 1 percent.

Notable decliners outside the PSEi included Converge and DDMPR, which lost 2.2 percent and 0.46 percent, respectively.

PHES advanced by 16.67 percent while MerryMart rose by 8.8 percent. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla