PSEi down for 7th straight trading session

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell to the 6,400 territory yesterday, battered by seven straight days of decline due to profit taking and investor worries.

The PSEi plunged 1.68 percent or 109.93 points to 6,426.25, while the broader all shares index lost 1.11 percent or 45.50 points to 4,049.12.

It marked the first time the main index fell below the 6,500 mark since closing at 6,459.93 on Feb. 12.

“Local stocks continue to slide as investors await to reenter the market near the 6,000-6,200 levels where valuations are attractive,” said Jonathan L. Ravelas, chief market strategist at BDO Unibank Inc.

Ravelas said the bailout deal on Cyprus still dragged the market.

The local market bucked the trend in Asia, which saw some major bourses recover from the jitters of the eurozone debt crisis.

Singapore’s Straits Times rose 0.44 percent or 14.41 points to 3,270.88, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 rallied 2.03 percent or 247.60 points to 12,468.23.

In the local market, all subindices were in the red, led by service sector that shed 1.97 percent or 37.60 points to 1,871.84 and financial firms that fell 1.76 percent or 30.54 points to 1,702.57.

Turnover value rose to P10.93 billion from P9.76 billion.

Decliners dominated advancers, 104 to 59, while 40 stocks did not change.