PSEI fails to secure 6,800 anchor over Sona anxiety

Investors took the perfect opportunity on Monday to lock in profits amid jitters over President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s third State of the Nation Address (Sona), prompting the local bourse to erase last week’s gains.

By the closing bell, the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) shed 1.17 percent, or 79.64 points, to 6,712.05.

Meanwhile, the broader All Shares Index slipped by 0.77 percent, or 27.85 points, to close at 3,599.98.

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A total of 531.62 million shares worth P6.23 billion changed hands as foreigners made net purchases worth P1.01 billion, stock exchange data showed.

Claire Alviar, research analyst at Philstocks Financial Inc., said the bourse’s decline was due to traders selling shares to secure profits from last week’s four-session winning streak.

At the same time, Alviar said investors were also waiting for Marcos’ plan to meet the government’s economic targets in the coming years.

Last month, the President’s economic team maintained a growth target of 6 percent to 7 percent for the year. For the rest of Marcos’ term, the government expects a 6.5- to 8-percent growth.

Only property and mining firms ended in the green. Service-focused firms suffered the largest loss at 2.61 percent as index heavyweight International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) went down by nearly 4 percent.

Sy family-led BDO Unibank Inc. was the top-traded stock as it slipped by 0.40 percent to P148.20 per share.

It was followed by Bank of the Philippine Islands, up 0.94 percent to P129; Ayala Land Inc., up 0.63 percent to P31.90; SM Investments Corp., down 0.77 percent to P904; and SM Prime Holdings Inc., up 1.32 percent to P30.65 each.

ICTSI shed 3.79 percent to P355.80; Ayala Corp., down 2.85 percent to P580; Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., down 4.43 percent to P66.90; Century Pacific Food Inc., down 2.08 percent to P33; and Bloomberry Resorts Corp., down 2.17 percent to P8.57.

Losers overpowered gainers, 107 to 72, while 60 companies closed unchanged. —Meg J. Adonis INQ