Philippine shares slide down anew as faster inflation data sinks in

MANILA, Philippines — Investors continued to digest the higher inflation print for February, prompting the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) to slide for the second consecutive trading day.

The benchmark PSEi dropped by 0.39 percent, or 26.92 points, to close at 6,878.54 while the wider All-Shares index skidded 0.46 percent, or 16.68 points, to settle at 3,587.59 by the closing bell.

Luis Limlingan, head of sales at Regina Capital Development Corp., said that “Philippine shares slipped again” after “further assessment of the local consumer price index.”

Inflation rose to 3.4 percent in February, up from 2.8 percent the previous month, due to higher price of rice, a staple in every Filipino meal.

READ: Inflation breaks 4-month downtrend with 3.4% spike in Feb

All subsectors were in the red, except for the financials index that rose by 0.70 percent. Industrial was the biggest loser with 1.29-percent dip.

About 501.85 million shares amounting to P4.81 billion were traded. Losers led winners, 104-78, while 58 issuances were unchanged.The most actively traded shares were Bank of the Philippine Islands, climbing by 1.38 percent to P117.90 each.

BPI was followed by Ayala Land Inc., down 1.91 percent to P33.30; BDO Unibank Inc., up 0.66 percent to P152.50; SM Investments Corp., down 1.04 percent to P953; SM Prime Holdings, up 0.15 percent to P33.20; and International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 1.15 percent to P292. —Tyrone Jasper C. Piad