Philippine stocks struggled on Tuesday as trading activity slowed and foreigners flipped from buying to selling, dragging the benchmark index lower.
The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index retreated 0.40 percent, or 28.18 points, to 7,041.50 while the broader All Shares index sank 0.13 percent, or 4.77 points, to 3,686.48.
A total of 1.96 billion shares valued at P5.4 billion changed hands while overseas investors cut their holdings by a net amount of P361.58 million, data from the stock exchange showed.
Most PSE subsectors ended in the red with holding firms (-0.70 percent) taking the lead, followed by mining and oil (-0.62 percent), financials (-0.41 percent), services (-0.25 percent) and property (-0.29 percent). The industrial subindex rose 0.57 percent.
Infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. jumped nearly 7 percent on Tuesday amid ongoing speculation the firm would take on a new investor or go private.
On Thursday, the Philippine Statistics Authority will release fourth quarter and full-year 2022 gross domestic product data, which could set the tone for growth this year.