Spooked investors dump PH shares; PSEi dives to 6,600

The local stock barometer dived to the 6,600 level in thin trade on Friday on worries over rising new coronavirus cases locally while concerns over a liquidity crunch in China and volatile mass retail trades also spooked markets across the region.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) tumbled by 239.22 points or 3.49 percent to close at 6,612.62.

Despite the thin value turnover of P3.6 billion, there was heavy net foreign selling amounting to P3.13 billion.

“Philippine shares continued to be sold down with many provinces reverting back to the stricter GCQ (general community quarantine) due to the rising cases of COVID-19. Even the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) head office is said to be under lockdown starting today until mid-next week after some of its officers tested positive for COVID-19,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development.

“In addition, investors are still assessing the growth prospects of the country after the latest GDP (gross domestic product) figures came out,” he said.

The country’s GDP contracted by 8.3 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, bringing full-year contraction to 9.5 percent, the worst in decades.

All counters saw a bloodbath, especially the holding firm and mining/oil counters which both slid by over 4 percent.

The property counter lost 3 percent, while the financial, industrial and services counters all shed over 2 percent.

There were 133 decliners that overwhelmed 91 advancers, while 44 stocks were unchanged.

Investors dumped shares of JG Summit, leading to an 8.16-percent decline, while Meralco and Aboitiz both shed nearly 7 percent.

URC lost 5.4 percent while SM Prime, SM Investments, BPI and PLDT all declined by over 4 percent.

Ayala Corp. and Globe Telecom both lost over 3 percent, while BDO shed nearly 3 percent.

Ayala Land and Metrobank declined by over 2 percent, while Jollibee lost over 1 percent.