Investors sold off their positions after previously booking some gains ahead of the announcement of the country’s third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) report, make the local index end in the red on Tuesday.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) declined by 0.10 percent, or 6.48 points, to close at 6,289.10 while the broader All-Shares index slipped by 0.18 percent, or 5.82 points, to finish at 3,307.75.
Claire Alviar, Philstocks Financial Inc. assistant manager for research and online engagement, said investors sold their stocks “while waiting for the country’s third-quarter GDP growth to be released this week.”
Barcelona-based think tank FocusEconomics, in an earlier report, projected the “slowest” growth for the July to September period since the first quarter of 2021 as the elevated consumer prices would discourage spending.
The country booked 7.4-percent GDP growth in the second quarter, which was slower than the 8.2-percent print in the three months prior.
“In the early part of trading, the market visited green territory as the unemployment rate in the Philippines improved in September. However, bears took the momentum, dragging the bourse into the red,” she added.
The unemployment rate in September fell to 5 percent, which was a new low since the pandemic began.
Only the financials and property indices ended in the green, climbing by 0.31 percent and 1.37 percent, respectively. Mining and oil index had the steepest fall at 2.30 percent.
About 311.61 million shares amounting to P5.13 billion were traded. Decliners led advancers, 100-76, while 38 issues were unchanged. BDO Unibank’s shares, the most actively traded, rose by 2.69 percent to P133.50 each.
Following this were SM Investments Corp., down 0.24 percent to P833; International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 1.68 percent to P186.80; Ayala Land Inc., up 1.17 percent to P26; Semirara Mining and Power Corp., down 4.69 percent to P31.50; and Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 2.01 percent to P95.