PSEi bucks regional downturn

THE LOCAL stock barometer bucked a regional downturn on Monday as local investors selectively picked up large-cap stocks that were sold down in the last two days.

Reversing losses early in the session, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange recouped 44.46 points or 0.59 percent to close at 7,554.40.

Elsewhere in the region, stock markets were sluggish due to jitters over the upcoming US Federal Reserve policy meeting alongside risks of “Brexit” or Great Britain leaving the European Union (EU).

A referendum is scheduled in Britain to determine whether to exit the EU or not on June 23. A potential exit is creating uncertainties since withdrawal from the EU means that the United Kingdom will no longer contribute to the EU’s precarious fiscal budget and will now start striking trade deals on its own.

The day’s rebound was led by the financial counter, which gained 1.06 percent while holding firms and property counters modestly firmed up. On the other hand, the services counter tumbled by 1.56 percent while the industrial and services counters also slipped.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P7.23 billion. Despite the PSEi’s gain, market breadth was negative. There were nearly twice as much decliners (128) as there were advancers (62).

Foreign investors were net sellers for the day amounting to net outflows of P430 million but local investors selectively scooped up large caps such as SM Prime (+3.92 percent) as well as Metrobank, SMIC and BPI which all rose by over 2 percent.

MPI gained by 1.59 percent while URC, JG Summit, BDO and Jollibee also firmed up.

On the other hand, the PSEi’s rise was capped by the decline of Petron (-4.66 percent), EDC (-3.45 percent) and PLDT (-1.85 percent) while AC, ALI and Globe also tumbled.

Outside of the PSEi, DoubleDragon was a notable decliner, losing 13.36 percent after last week’s extraordinary climb. RRHI and Security Bank both fell by over 1 percent.