PSEi tumbles below 6,900 after US inflation surprise

PSEi

MANILA — The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) plunged below 6,900 on Friday with shares sold down as anxiety gripped investors amid an inflation spike in the United States.

By the end of the session, the benchmark PSEi fell by 2.09 percent, or 145.64 points, to 6,822.32, while the broader All Shares index slipped 1.39 percent, or 50.28 points, to 3,560.46.A total of 1.59 billion shares valued at P20.08 billion changed hands, data from the stock exchange showed.

Property stocks pulled other subsectors down as SM Prime Holdings Inc. and Ayala Land Inc. fell.

“Equities also dipped as the February [producer price index, or PPI] surpassed economists’ expectations,” said Luis Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development. A measure of inflation in the US, PPI is also being used by the Fed to assess its policy direction.

READ: Tech pulls down Asia stocks, dollar gains on inflation data

BDO Unibank Inc. was the top-traded stock as it declined by 3.2 percent to P148 per share.

It was followed by Emperador Inc., up 1.83 percent to P16.70 per share; International Container Terminal Services Inc., up 0.64 percent to P315; Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 1.42 percent to P118.40; and SM Prime Holdings, down 3.40 percent to P31.25 per share.

Security Bank Corp. fell by 3.23 percent to P67.45; Manila Water Co. Inc., down 4.78 percent to P20.90; Ayala Land, down 4.14 percent to P32.40; PLDT Inc., down 3.21 percent to P1,355; and Universal Robina Corp., down 3.17 percent to P106.80 per share.

Overall, there were 92 advancers against 113 losers, and 38 companies unchanged at closing, data from the stock exchange showed. INQ