PSEi falls for 3rd straight session, closes below 7,000

The local stock barometer fell below the 7,000 mark on Thursday as foreign investors pared down holdings ahead of the MSCI rebalancing while port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc.’s (ICTSI) treasury share also gnawed on sentiment.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 73.76 points, or 1.05 percent, to close at 6,927.75, bucking the upswing seen across regional markets.

Local stock brokerage Papa Securities said two catalysts that the market was watching for were ICTSI’s 100-percent treasury share place out and the MSCI rebalancing on Friday.

“The major support level that we eye for the index would be 6,700 level,” Papa Securities said.

The index has declined for the third straight session.

All counters ended lower, with the mining/oil subindex seeing the steepest drop of 2.78 percent.

The financial, holding firm, services and property counters all declined by over 1 percent.

Value turnover amounted to P15.49 billion. There was P2.28 billion worth of net foreign selling for the day.

There were 148 decliners that outnumbered 69 advancers, while 46 stocks were unchanged.

Gokongwei-led firms RLC and JG Summit both declined by over 5 percent, while ICTSI shed 4.11 percent following its announcement of a P4.68-billion treasury share sale.

ICTSI announced the sale of 40 million common shares at P117 per share, representing a 3.9-percent discount to Wednesday’s close.

Security Bank declined by 3.12 percent, while SM Prime, Metrobank, PLDT, AEV and Megaworld all slipped by over 2 percent.

BDO lost 1.3 percent.

On the other hand, GT Capital gained 1.4 percent, while BPI, Ayala Land, SM Investments and Globe Telecom all gained less than 1 percent.