Phl stocks tumble on weak reg’l markets

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) declined yesterday, mirroring the movements of markets in the region, analysts said.

The PSEi lost 0.53 percent or 38.09 points to close at 7,116.13, while the broader all shares index shed off 0.44 percent or 18.46 points at 4,199.83.

“The PSEi headed south from the get-go, mirroring the movements of its peers in the region, eventually pulling marginally below the critical psychological mark before rising above it at close,” said Justino Calaycay Jr., analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp.

After lifting the local market up on Wednesday, the Wall Street on Thursday did the reverse and dampened local stocks.

US stocks plunged overnight on the back of a drop in energy shares. The Dow suffered the biggest loss in terms of percentage at 0.92 percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 likewise declined 0.83 percent and 0.73 percent, respectively.

Calaycay said China’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) provided a bit of optimism to global markets, but was unable to uplift the overall mood.

Locally, counters were mixed at three apiece. Leading those in the green was industrial firms which picked up 0.58 percent, while property firms headed those in the red as it lost 0.82 percent. 

Market breadth was negative as decliners outmatched advancers, 97 to 72, while 44 were unchanged. Total value turnover declined to P6.06 billion from PP6.70 billion the previous day.