PSEi within a hair’s breadth of bear territory

A bear market is closer than ever after the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell below 6,100 following a massive sell-off triggered by the fragile peso.

The benchmark PSEi plunged by 1.67 percent, or 102.77 points, to close at 6,065.23 while the wider All Shares index dropped by 1.31 percent, or 43.62 points, to end at 3,284.73.

“The peso, which has been declining below the P54 per US dollar level, is seen to pose upside risks to inflation and discourage foreign investors from parking their funds in the Philippine market,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. senior research analyst Japhet Louis Tantiangco said.

“Investors also traded cautiously while waiting for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) policy decision,” he added. The BSP hiked its policy rate by another 25 basis points on Thursday.

Peso depreciation

He said there was a possibility the PSEi would enter bear market today if the peso further depreciates and Wall Street “performs poorly overnight due to recession worries in the US.”

After Thursday’s closing, PSEi is already down 19.69 percent from its recent high of 7,552.20—just a hairline away from the 20-percent bear market point.

“For now let’s see if the market can regain its ground at the 6,100 to 6,150 range. If it is able to do so, then this will still serve as its support. If not, its next support is already seen at 5,700,” Tantiangco said.

All sectors were down, with mining and oil and services plunging the deepest by 3.98 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

About 1.08 billion shares valued at P5.42 billion were traded. Losers led winners, 143-65, while 36 issues were unchanged.

International Container Terminal Services Inc., which was the most actively traded, fell 3.59 percent to P180 apiece.

This was followed by SM Prime Holdings, down 0.28 percent to P35; Ayala Land Inc., down 3.21 percent to P25.65; PLDT Inc., down 3.58 percent to P1,697; Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 4.95 percent to P86.50; and Emperador Inc., up 2.65 percent to P19.40.

Other active names were Converge ICT Solutions, down 3.11 percent to P18.70; BDO Unibank Inc., down 2.92 percent to P116.50; D&L Industries Inc., down 2.84 percent to P6.50; and SM Investment Corp., up 0.85 percent to P769.50.