PH stocks weighed down by US jitters

MOST local stocks took a beating for the second straight session as investors in Wall Street and regional markets were unnerved by sluggish US data.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 57.37 points or 0.73 percent to close at 7,816.27.

The market was weighed down most by the industrial and services counters, which both slipped by over 1 percent. On the other hand, the property and mining/oil counters were unscathed, both modestly bucking the downtrend.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P13 billion. There were twice as many decliners for every single gainer.

Dealers said the market was spooked by the overnight decline in US stocks, in turn dragged by some weak US economic and corporate earnings data alongside US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen’s comments about equities being pricey. Meanwhile, reports indicated that Greece managed to avoid a debt default.

Vietnam’s devaluation of the dong had little impact on the market, dealers said.

URC and AGI fell by over 2 percent while investors also sold down BPI, EDC, GTCAP, RLC and Globe which all fell by over 1 percent.

BDO, the most actively traded stock, also weighed down the market as it fell by 0.72 percent. SMIC, Metrobank, Semirara, Megaworld and ICTSI also traded lower.

Outside of PSEi stocks, Puregold (-2.44 percent) also tumbled in heavy volume.

Meanwhile, the property counter advanced due to the gains eked out by property giants SM Prime and ALI which both went up by over 1 percent.

Non-PSEi stock Nickel Asia, which announced its entry into the renewable energy business, also firmed up by 0.94 percent.

Local stock brokerage DA Market Securities said the PSEi had punctured through the 50-day moving average (MA) and had so far tested and held the 100-day support at the 7,700 level, seen as “a pivotal level that if broken will lead to next support at 7,500 or the 200-day MA.”

“With the index in a short-term downtrend, the investor would be prudent to wait for signals of better basing or a bottom instead of anticipating. We note that more volatility has seeped into market sentiment at current levels and investors are advised to take on a cautious stance,” the brokerage said.