PH shares dive on heels of Wall Street sell-off

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) plunged over 100 points to close below 6,700 on Wednesday, following a similar selldown in Asia and Wall Street overnight.

The PSEi fell 1.5 percent, or 101.73 points, to 6,699.23 while the broader All Shares index lost 1.17 percent, or 42.25 points, to 3,579.36.

This comes after US stocks saw their worst day in two months as investors brace for further interest rate hikes in the coming months.

PSE data showed 1.34 billion shares valued at P4.93 billion changing hands while net foreign selling jumped to P752.34 million.

“Local equities plummeted, breaking the 6,700 stronghold, due to the lack of positive catalysts,” Luis Gerardo Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development, said in a note to investors on Wednesday.

The property sector’s 1.84-percent decline was the steepest among PSE subindices. It was followed by financials (-1.76 percent), industrial (-1.28 percent), mining and oil (-1.20 percent), holding firms (-1.16 percent) and services (-1.10 percent).

Globe Telecom was the top traded company as it tumbled 2.56 percent to P1,939 per share.

SM Investments Corp. was down 0.84 percent to P890; Ayala Land Inc., down 2.59 percent to P28.20; ACEN Corp., down 2.77 percent to P6.67; and SM Prime Holdings Inc., down 2 percent to P36.70.

Overall, there were 134 losers against 45 advancers while 43 companies closed unchanged, stock exchange data showed.

—Miguel R. Camus