Inflation jitters keep investors at bay

MANILA  -The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) continued to consolidate above the 6,600 mark on Wednesday after the barometer bounced from a key support level.

By the closing bell, the PSEi rose 0.42 percent, or 27.82 points, to 6,630.97 while the broader All Shares index added 0.28 percent, or 9.8 points, to 3,529.66.

Jonathan Ravelas, managing director at eManagement for Business and Marketing Services, said on Wednesday the gradual recovery indicated waning risk aversion.

“However, this sentiment remains fragile amid concerns about ‘uncomfortably high domestic inflation’ and still fragile global investor sentiment,” he noted.

A total of 2.29 billion shares valued at P13 billion changed hands, with significant volume coming from the P6.58-billion block sale of AREIT Inc. shares and P2.1 billion from Cemex Holdings Philippines.

These helped raise net foreign buying during the session to P2.7 billon, stock exchange data showed.

Meanwhile, the financial subsector climbed 1.13 percent, followed by property (+0.51 percent), holding firms (+0.42 percent), mining and oil (+0.31 percent) and services (+0.01 percent) while industrial stocks slipped 0.57 percent.

SM Investments Corp. was the top traded stock as it dipped 0.71 percent to P909 per share.

It was followed by BDO Unibank Inc., up 2.39 percent to P128.50; Jollibee Foods Corp., down 2.06 percent to P219; and PLDT Inc., up 0.88 percent to P1,380.

RELATED STORIES:

Risks to the stock market’s strong performance this year

PH shares slip as investors shy away from risks