PH stocks slip back as Covid worries investors

THE local bourse returned to the negative territory, following the overnight shed of Wall Street as global coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases continue to rise.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 0.94 percent or 61.03 points to its intraday low of 6,439.39, while the broader All Shares dipped by 0.61 percent or 24.49 points to finish at 3,964.34.

Philstocks Financial Inc. research associate Claire Alviar said the market declined, along with regional peers, following the drop of US markets as concerns on the rising Covid-19 cases globally weighed on sentiment.

“In Asia, some parts of Japan may put on lockdown due to the new wave of Covid-19 infections and India sets new records for cases and deaths. Also, the restriction of the US on traveling to the Philippines weighs further on sentiment,” Alviar noted.

Wall Street was in the red as the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell by 0.75 percent, 0.68 percent and 0.92 percent, respectively.

The recent tally of Johns Hopkins University showed that the number of pandemic cases globally has risen to 142 million.

Meanwhile, the Philippines recorded 7,379 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to 953,106.

Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis Limlingan likewise attributed the bourse’s slip to the continued increase of Covid-19 cases globally.

“Another round of better-thanexpected earnings did little to push benchmarks up. Equity prices retreated from recent highs amid concerns that India will impose coronavirus-related restrictions, as well,” Limlingan continued.

Only the services index gained among local sectors at 0.85 percent, while the property index led decliners at 2.1 percent.

Total volume turnover was at 3.46 billion shares valued at P5.37 billion.

Advancers outpaced decliners at 108 to 92, while 52 securities were unchanged.