PH stocks fall on Delta strain fears

The local stock barometer tumbled to the 6,600 level on Friday as rising cases of COVID-19 Delta infections spooked regional markets.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell by 85.29 points or 1.27 percent to close at 6,633.22.

For the week, the newly rebalanced PSEi managed to gain 313.03 points or 4.9 percent as investors anticipated the easing of quarantine restrictions.

Restrictions

Joseph Roxas, president of Eagle Equities, said the easing of quarantine restrictions had been telegraphed to the market during a meeting of Metro Manila mayors.

Market sentiment has weakened because investors were “anticipating that COVID-19 cases will continue to rise,” Roxas added.

In the country, daily COVID-19 cases have risen anew, hitting a record high on Friday after market closing.

In the red

All counters ended in the red, led by the holding firm and property counters.

The financial, industrial, services and mining/oil counters all shed less than 1 percent.

Value turnover amounted to P6.3 billion. Foreigners became net sellers anew, resulting in P175.12 million worth of net foreign selling.

While the PSEi declined, market breadth was positive on Friday, with 113 advancers edging out 78 decliners, while 47 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was weighed down most by ICTSI and BPI, which lost 2.73 percent and 2.67 percent, respectively.

Ayala Corp. lost nearly 2 percent, while JG Summit shed 1.11 percent.

ALI, GT Capital, PLDT and BDO all slipped by less than 1 percent.

Decliners

Notable decliners outside the PSEi included Emperador, which pulled back by 1.18 percent after a recent runup that was driven by news about its plan for dual listing in Singapore.

On the other hand, PSEi newbie Converge advanced by 5.19 percent. It was the day’s most actively traded company.

Another PSEi newbie, AC Energy, racked up 4.56 percent.

Globe Telecom added 2.57 percent while Megaworld firmed up by 0.7 percent.

Investors also gobbled up shares of a number of second-liner stocks, such as AyalaLand Logistics, which surged by 7.28 percent.

Newly listed Monde Nissin added 2.44 percent, while Cirtek, which recently concluded a P1.37-billion stock rights offering, added 3.83 percent.

Nickel Asia and D&L both rose by less than 1 percent.

—Doris Dumlao-Abadilla