PSEi falls to 6,400 on US inflation woes
The local bourse further sank into the red territory during the first trading of the week as investor sentiment turned sour with the high US inflation figure.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell 0.97 percent, or 63.03 points, to close at 6,467.01 while the broader all-shares index slipped 1.05 percent, or 37 points, to end at 3,474.93.
The last time PSEi touched 6,400 level was on May 17 during intraday trading. Still, it was above the 52-week low of 6,270.23.
“Philippine shares slid once again after a highly anticipated US CPI (consumer price index) report showed a faster-than-expected rise in prices and consumer sentiment hit a record low,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said.
Recent reports showed that the US inflation in May had risen to 8.6 percent, the highest since 1981.
“For this week, traders appeared to be preparing for a more aggressive [Federal Reserves] responses in the surge in prices,” Limlingan added.
All subsectors ended in the red, with mining and oil plunging the deepest at 2.64 percent. This was followed by services and holding firms indices, which declined by 1.76 percent and 1.65 percent, respectively.
About 761.72 million shares, valued at P5.38 billion, were traded. Losers outpaced winners, 146-43, while 39 issues were unchanged.
Shares of property giant SM Prime Holdings inched up 0.54 percent to P37.20 each. The company was the most actively traded for the day.
This was followed by Ayala Land Inc., up 0.17 percent to P30.05; International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 0.99 percent to P200; SM Investment Corp., down 1.71 percent to P806; BDO Unibank, down 1.03 percent to P124.70; and PLDT Inc., down 2.18 percent to P1,796 per share.
Other active names were: Semirara Mining and Power Corp., down 0.59 percent to P33.90; Bank of the Philippine Islands; up 0.05 percent to P92.65; Ayala Corp., down 1.98 percent to P642; and Globe Telecom, down 1.52 percent to P2,328 per share.
