Foreign selling drags down index

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) remained in negative territory yesterday as foreign funds engaged in heavy selling, traders said.

The PSEi shed 70.83 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 8,348.74 while the broader All Shares index was also down, closing at 5,035.85 or a decline of 31.31 points or 0.61 percent.

The counters, however, were a mixed bag. The mining and oil and industrial indexes closed in positive territory while the services index, holding firms and property ended in the red.

Total value turnover, meanwhile, reached P7.48 billion while market breadth was negative, 122 decliners to 99 advancers. Forty issues were unchanged.

Gio Perez, a trader at Papa Securities, said the index took its cue from the US markets which fell as political concerns weighed down the positive inflation data.

“Net foreign selling was once again ramped up at P1.4 billion, the last time NFS breached the P1 billion mark was two weeks ago,” Perez said.

He said several index heavyweights also dragged down the PSEi, including JG Summit, SM and BPI.

“In terms of technicals, the PSEi went straight down after breaching its initial support around the 8,3008,320 levels. The index found respite in the 8,280 level however, in the area of its 200-day moving average as it bounced back from there,” Perez said.

In a report, First Metro Securities said failure to hold above 8,400 would lead the market to test its next supports at 8,300 to 8,320.