PSEi declines to 7,200 level on foreign outflows

THE MAIN INDEX pulled back to the 7,200 level on Wednesday, dropping for a second day as foreigners continued to exit the local market.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gave up 0.89% or 65.11 points to close at 7,221.23. The broader allshares index likewise lost 0.75% or 34 points to 4,454.71.

“Net foreign selling once again proved to be the bane for the PSEi as a figure of P636.47 million, the highest for the week so far, led the index to fall 65 points. The PSEi also stood out in the Asia-Pacific region which mostly closed in the green,” Papa Securities Corp. trader Gabriel Jose F. Perez said in an e-mail.

This marked the 15th consecutive day of net foreign selling. Wednesday’s figure was also higher than the previous session’s net sales of P294.33 million.

“Philippine markets still continued the selldown as investors kept to the sidelines with the development of the trade war,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile message.

US President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday announced additional tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. In retaliation, China said it would impose its own 5-10% tariffs on $60 billion worth of American goods. The new round of tariffs will take effect starting Sept. 24.

Investors abroad seemed to have shrugged off the US’ latest actions in the trade war, as Wall Street indices closed Tuesday on a positive note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.71% or 184.84 points to 26,246.96; the S&P 500 index added 0.54% or 15.51 points to 2,904.31; while the Nasdaq Composite Index picked up 0.76% or 60.32 points to 7,956.11.

Back home, sectoral indices closed in the red, with the mining and oil sector declining the most, dropping 2.65% or 248.58 points to 9,108.06. Financials lost 1.6% or 25.80 points to close at 1,577.27; services slumped 1.05% or 15.93 points to 1,493.26; holding firms slipped 0.74% or 53.10 points to 7,048.43; industrials slowed 0.48% or 52.50 points to 10,892.14; while property dipped 0.18% or 6.87 points to 3,644.40.

Trading volume thinned to P5.49 billion after some 848.73 million issues switched hands, compared to the previous session’s P6.59 billion.

Losers outnumbered gainers, 153 to 36, while 41 names ended flat.

Wednesday’s list of 20 most actively traded stocks showed only two advancers, namely SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (up 1.23%) and Universal Robina Corp. (up 0.77%). Shares in BDO Unibank, Inc. were unchanged, while the remaining 17 stocks declined.

Notable losers were the Bank of the Philippine Islands (down 3.17%) and Megaworld Corp. (down 3.63%).

Meanwhile, other Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Wednesday, in line with Asian peers, with investors shrugging off trade war worries as the latest round of tariffs between Washington and Beijing was seen as being less severe than expected. •