PSEi fails to rally past 6,800 barrier

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) retreated on Tuesday after failing to break past the 6,800 resistance level while investors weighed new data on the country’s trade deficit.

By the closing bell, the PSEi sank 0.49 percent, or 33.55 points, to 6,756.69 while the broader All Shares index slipped 0.27 percent, or 9.74 points, to 3,559.23.

A total of 2.51 billion shares valued at P20.63 billion changed hands amid a series of the block transactions of Bank of the Philippine Islands shares.

Foreigners also ended up net sellers to the tune of P162.96 million, data from the stock exchange showed.

On Tuesday, the Philippine Statistics Authority said the country’s trade gap narrowed to $3.68 billion in November last year from $4.71 billion during the same period in 2021.

The figure, however, was still wider than the $3.3 billion deficit recorded in October 2022, government data showed.

Meanwhile, PSE subsectors were mostly lower save for services, which rose 0.78 percent.

Industrial stocks tumbled 1.16 percent, followed by property (-1.13 percent), financials (-1.09 percent), mining and oil (-0.75 percent) and holding firms (-0.08 percent).

SM Investments Corp. was the top traded stock as it rose 0.39 percent to P903.50 per share.

It was followed by BDO Unibank Inc., down 1.33 percent to P110.90; PLDT Inc., up 1.49 percent to P1,433; International Container Terminal Services Inc., up 2.53 percent to P203; and SM Prime Holdings Inc., down 0.67 percent to P37.25 per share.

Ayala Corp. was down 1.26 percent to P703; Metro Pacific Investments Corp., up 7.78 percent to P3.88; Jollibee Foods Corp., down 0.41 percent to P241; Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 1.42 percent to P104.50; and Robinsons Land Corp., down 0.53 percent to P15 per share. INQ