The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) was down over 100 points while trading volume accelerated after a selloff in Wall Street overnight.
The PSEi tumbled 1.66 percent, or 116.11 points, to 6,863.91 while the broader all-shares index was down 1.4 percent, or 52.06 points, to 3,660.33.
Large conglomerates and property giants pushed the PSEi lower. US equity indices were down, led by the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s 809-point decline, amid worries the Federal Reserve would turn to aggressive monetary policy action to curb surging inflation.
All PSE subsectors were in the red, led by mining and oil’s 3.78-percent plunge. Property and holding firms also lost more than 2 percent each.
Higher trading volume
PSE trading volume more than doubled from the previous session with 816.5 million shares valued at P8.78 billion changing hands.
Foreigners, however, were seen buying the dip. They ended the session with net purchases of P1.67 billion, data from the PSE showed.
Overall, there were 138 losers against 49 gainers while 43 companies closed unchanged.
SM Investments Corp. was the most actively traded on Wednesday as it sank 1.05 percent to P851 per share.
It was followed by Ayala Land Inc., down 3.41 percent to P34; Ayala Corp., down 3.43 percent to P732; BDO Unibank Inc., down 1.98 percent to P128.40; and SM Prime Holdings Inc., down 1.37 percent to P36 per share.
The remaining top traded stocks were AREIT Inc., down 6.56 percent to P39.90; International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 1.97 percent to P218.60; Converge ICT Solutions Inc., up 1.02 percent to P29.70; Universal Robina Corp., down 1.96 percent to P105; and Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corp., down 8.24 percent to P1.56 per share.