PSEi slips as investors weigh possible end of interest rate hikes

MANILA  –The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) tilted lower on Monday after Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) could pause its aggressive monetary tightening during its next policy meeting in May.

The PSEi slipped 0.11 percent, or 7.14 points, to 6,595.03 while the broader All Shares index shed 0.08 percent, or 2.65 points, to 3,514.07.

Diokno, a member of the BSP’s policymaking Monetary Board, expressed his personal views during the weekend, saying he favored “nonmonetary” measures to ease inflation moving forward.

Last week, the BSP raised its benchmark policy rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 percent.

Philippine central bank raises key policy rate by 25 bps

Investors were mostly on the sidelines on Monday as 390.14 million shares valued at P3.63 billion changed hands. Foreigners were net sellers amounting to P11.92 million, stock exchange data showed.

PSE subsectors mining and oil led gainers, climbing 0.35 percent, followed by holding firms (+0.23 percent), industrial (+0.11 percent) and property (+0.01 percent) counters. Services and financial subindices slid by 1.02 percent and 0.15 percent, respectively.

Bank of the Philippine Islands was the top traded stock as it rose 0.49 percent to P102 per share.

It was followed by International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 1.5 percent to P210; SM Prime Holdings Inc., down 0.15 percent to P33.95; SM Investments Corp., up 1.44 percent to P918; and PLDT Inc., down 1.41 percent to P1,331 per share.

BDO Unibank Inc. dipped 0.39 percent to P126.50; ACEN Corp., up 0.78 percent to P6.47; Globe Telecom, down 1.57 percent to P1,821; Ayala Corp., down 0.15 percent to P665; and Universal Robina Corp., down 0.14 percent to P146.60 per share.

Overall, there were 87 losers against 82 advancers while 46 companies closed unchanged.