PSEi starts week down as virus count continues to feed market jitters

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) saw a pullback at the start of the week after coronavirus infections remained elevated after recently touching another record high.

On Monday, the PSEi dropped 0.52 percent, or 37.51 points, to 7,223.83 while the broader all-shares index shed 0.26 percent, or 10.06 points, to 3,845.24.

The Department of Health announced 37,070 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, after the market closed.

The figure dropped slightly from Sunday’s 37,154 count, which also eased from the all-time high of 39,004 cases reported on Saturday.

Total number of COVID-19 cases in the country is now over 3.2 million, of which 290,938 are still active. PSE sectors were also mostly lower on Monday, save for services and mining and oil, which rose 0.31 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.

Financials sank 0.8 percent, followed by property, down 0.74 percent, industrial, down 0.55 percent, and holding firms, down 0.31 percent.

A total of 1.13 billion shares valued at P5.78 billion changed hands on Monday while foreigners were mostly sellers, shedding a net amount of P232.39 million.

PSE data showed 104 losers against 78 advancers, while 61 companies closed unchanged.

Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corp., up 6.62 percent to P1.61, was the most actively traded stock for the session.

It was followed by Universal Robina Corp., down 2.32 percent to P126.50; Haus Talk Inc., up 6.67 percent to P1.60; Monde Nissin Corp., up 0.35 percent to P17.24; and Emperador Inc., up 0.93 percent to P19.58 per share.

Other active names were BDO Unibank Inc., down 1.78 percent to P127.20; International Container Terminal Services Inc., up 2.27 percent to P203; D&L Industries Inc., down 3.15 percent to P8.60; Converge ICT Solutions Inc., down 0.32 percent to P31.15; and DITO CME Holdings Corp., down 9.17 percent to P5.15 per share. INQ