Philippine shares tumble on PLDT sell-off

MANILA -The Philippine Stock Exchange index extended losses on Tuesday ahead of the release of March inflation data and the continued selldown of PLDT shares.

By the closing bell, the benchmark measure slid by 0.89 percent, or 57.95 points, to 6,472.04 while the broader All Shares index sank 0.47 percent, or 16.47 points, to 3,481.96.

Stocks tumbled before the latest inflation print is released on Wednesday. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said inflation in March likely slowed from the previous month’s 8.6 percent to a range of 7.4 to 8.2 percent.

PLDT shed another 4.3 percent on Tuesday after its credit score was downgraded by S&P Ratings while Monde Nissin snapped a multiday-losing streak after bouncing over 1 percent.

https://business.inquirer.net/394425/sp-downgrades-pldt-credit-rating-by-a-notch

Financials dropped 1.81 percent, followed by services (-1.61 percent), holding firms (-1.11 percent), industrial (-0.41 percent) and mining and oil (-0.21 percent). Property firms rose 1.15 percent.

A total of 2.4 billion shares valued at P3.99 billion changed hands while foreigners were net sellers to the tune of P238.4 million.

SM Investments Corp. was the top traded stock as it slipped 1.69 percent to P870 per share.

It was followed by SM Prime Holdings Inc., up 2.43 percent to P33.75; Universal Robina Corp., down 2.41 percent to P141.50; BDO Unibank Inc., down 2.5 percent to P125; and International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 1.69 percent to P210 per share.

PLDT Inc. was down 4.26 percent to P1,280; Ayala Land Inc., down 0.18 percent to P27.35; Globe Telecom, up 0.82 percent to P1,840; Monde Nissin Corp., up 1.33 percent to P9.12; and Jollibee Foods Corp., flat at P226 per share.

Overall, there were 91 advancers against 92 losers while 60 companies closed unchanged. INQ