MANILA —The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) closed below 6,800 on Monday as large cap property and holding companies were sold down.
By the closing bell, the PSEi lost 1.09 percent, or 74.62 points, to 6,798.61 while the broader All Shares index slipped 0.97 percent, or 35.06 points, to 3,562.61.
Property stocks led other subsectors lower as SM Prime Holdings and Ayala Land slumped.
Stock exchange data showed 637.71 million shares valued at P4.22 billion changing hands while foreigners made net purchases of P339.4 million.
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Investors will also be tracking domestic corporate earnings and economic data releases in the coming days.
“The key economic data releases in the US this week are the jobless claims report on Thursday and the existing home sales report on Friday.
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The minutes from the January [Federal Open Market Committee] meeting will be released on Wednesday,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development.
Top traded stocks
In other market news, the Philippine Stock Exchange suspended trading of Roxas Holdings, part of Manuel V. Pangilinan’s First Pacific Group, for its failure to submit the required annual report by the bourse’s deadline.
Bank of the Philippine Islands was the top traded stock as it slipped 1.48 percent to P116.70 per share.
It was followed by BDO Unibank Inc., down 0.78 percent to P153.10; SM Prime Holdings Inc., down 2.79 percent to P33.05; Ayala Land Inc., down 0.88 percent to P33.95; and Ayala Corp., down 0.78 percent to P703.50 per share.
Bloomberry Resorts Corp. was flat at P11.40; International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 1.43 percent to P276; Jollibee Foods Corp., flat at P259; Universal Robina Corp., down 2.97 percent to P114.50; and Emperador Inc., down 4.14 percent to P19.70 per share.
Overall, there were 134 losers against 59 gainers while 49 companies closed unchanged, data from the stock exchange also showed. INQ