PSEi slips after absorbing new BSP rate hike

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) tumbled below 6,800 on Friday as investors digested the fresh interest rate hike by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The PSEi shed 0.54 percent, or 36.89 points, to 6,779.02 while the broader All Shares index sank 0.48 percent, or 17.39 points, to 3,621.69.

The BSP said on Thursday the policy rate will increase by 0.5 percentage points to 6 percent on Feb. 17 while raising the full-year inflation rate forecast to 6.1 percent due to elevated food, transport and wage costs.

“[T]he BSP announced a widely expected 50 [basis point] interest rate adjustment, which effectively pushed the [benchmark rate to] 6 percent—the highest in almost 16 years,” Luis Gerardo Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development, said in a note to investors on Friday.

The stock exchange showed a total of 851.14 million shares valued at P5.7 billion changing hands while net foreign selling reached P121.9 million.

Services and mining and oil climbed 0.79 percent and 0.04 percent, respectively, while decliners were led by property (-1.75 percent), industrial (-0.87 percent), holding firms (-0.83 percent) and financials (-0.02 percent).

SM Investments Corp. was the top traded stock as it dropped 1.46 percent to P875 per share.

It was followed by BDO Unibank Inc., up 0.64 percent to P125; SM Prime Holdings Inc., down 2.25 percent to P37; Bank of the Philippine Islands, up 0.38 percent to P105.50; and Figaro Coffee Group, down 7.78 percent to P0.83.

Ayala Land Inc. was down 0.84 percent to P29.35; Manila Electric Co., up 0.32 percent to P310, Globe Telecom, up 3.55 percent to P2,040; Ayala Corp., down 0.30 percent to P668; and DITO CME Holdings Corp., up 4.21 percent to P3.22.

Overall, there were 123 losers against 56 advancers while 39 companies closed unchanged, stock exchange data showed.