PSEi falls 1.73% as foreign selling continues

The local stock barometer dropped below the 6,200 mark yesterday as foreign funds dumped a number of local blue chip companies.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slid by 108.95 points, or 1.73 percent, to close at 6,188.83, as P2 billion in foreign funds flowed out of the market.

The index was weighed down most by the property counter, which fell by 3.6 percent.

The financial, industrial and services counters all fell by over 1 percent, while the holding firm counter lost 0.7 percent.

Only the mining/oil counter ended in the green, adding 2.71 percent.

Total value turnover for the day hit P6.64 billion. There were 121 decliners that edged out 83 advancers, while 33 stocks were unchanged.

Ayala Land Inc., the day’s most actively traded company, fell by 6.2 percent.

PLDT, URC and Ayala all lost nearly 3 percent. SM Prime, Globe and BDO all fell by over 2 percent. BPI was down by 0.69 percent.

Joseph Roxas, president of Eagle Equities Inc., said investors were likely anticipating “horrible” second-quarter earnings.

MerryMart fell by 5.12 percent, while Dito lost 2.96 percent.

In the meantime, Metro Pacific rose 1.57 percent, while AGI, Security Bank, SM Investments and JG Summit all gained less than 1 percent.

Investors turned to second-liner stocks for buying opportunities. MacroAsia surged by 16 percent, while Megawide rose by 14 percent. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA