Fitch outlook downgrade sends PH shares tumbling

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) fell over 100 points on Tuesday after international debt watcher Fitch Ratings downgraded the Philippine economy’s outlook from stable to negative.

The PSEi fell 1.72 percent, or 118.74 points, to 6,795.13 while the broader all-shares index fell 1.27 percent, or 54.26 points, to 4,215.76 as investors dismissed efforts by the country’s economic managers to downplay the downgrade.

“The downward revision reflects increasing risks to the credit profile from the impact of the pandemic and its aftermath on policy-making as well as on economic and fiscal outturns,” Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development, said on Tuesday.

The warning from Fitch also dragged down all subsectors by the closing bell.

Property was the biggest loser, declining 2.26 percent, followed by holding firms, down 2.01 percent, and financials,
down 1.56 percent.

A total of 1.89 billion shares valued at P5.78 billion changed hands. Decliners outnumbered gainers 125 to 66 while 51 companies closed unchanged.

Conglomerate Ayala Corp. was the most actively traded on Tuesday as it lost 1.25 percent to P790 per share.

It was followed by International Container Terminal Services Inc., up 0.91 percent to P165.50; Ayala Land Inc.,
down 3.52 percent to P35.65; BDO Unibank Inc., down 1.6 percent to P110.70; and SM Investments Corp., down
2.85 percent to P990 per share.

—MIGUEL R CAMUS