The local stock barometer slipped on Monday in line with mostly sluggish trading sentiment across regional markets.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dipped by 12.55 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 6,937.96.
“There was minimal volatility on blue chips with the exception of a few issues, as investors made little adjustments to their portfolios ahead of the release of manufacturing and inflation data. Heightened COVID-19 cases, as we continue to register more than 5,000 new cases a day, is keeping the sentiment cautious,” said Christopher Mangun, head of research at AAA Equities.
Average selling pressure on blue chips was quickly absorbed by buyers at current prices, thus curbing volatility, Mangun noted.
About P336.8 million worth of net foreign buying tempered the PSEi’s decline.
“The PSEi may continue sideways between support at 6,750 and resistance at 7,000 until the end of the week as it builds momentum for a bigger move,” Mangun said.
The index was weighed down most by the financial, property and services counters, which all declined by less than 1 percent.
The industrial and mining/oil counters all gained over 1 percent, while the holding firm counter added less than 1 percent.
Value turnover amounted to P5.35 billion.
Despite the PSEi’s decline, there were more advancers (107) than decliners (96) as investors looked beyond the PSEi for trading opportunities. On the other hand, 43 stocks were unchanged.
The PSEI was dragged down by the BDO, ICTSI and BPI, which all declined by over 1 percent.
SM Prime, Ayala Land, Ayala Corp., Globe Telecom, Puregold, RLC, Metrobank, Jollibee and RRHI all slipped by less than 1 percent.
The PSEi’s decline was tempered by the gains eked out by SM Investments, Megaworld and URC, which all added over 1 percent.