PSEi down 1.18%

Screengrab from www.pse.com.ph

The local stock barometer slumped on continued foreign selling as domestic political jitters added to sluggish regional investor sentiment ahead of the Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries (Opec) meeting.

As foreign investors remained net sellers in the market for the 22nd straight session, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 91.14 points or 1.18 percent to close at 7,632.46.

Since Aug. 23 or when the spate of foreign selling began, about P24.98 billion of foreign money has left the local stock market.

“The PSEi continues to see profit taking in the absence of fresh news to support further

re-rating of market multiples. Asian markets were down in general as they digested negative global macro newsflow, including an uncertainty over the outcome of the US elections,” said Michaelangelo Oyson, president of BPI Securities.

“Some foreign funds may also be starting to reposition their portfolios to anticipate an eventual hike in US interest rates and a strengthening of the US dollar versus emerging market currencies,” he added.  Doris Dumlao-Abadilla