PSEi slips anew ahead of BSP policy meeting

MANILA, Philippines — The local stock market continued its drop ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’s policy meeting today.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index tumbled by 0.86 percent or 53 points to settle at 6,137.23.

The broader All Shares index also declined by 0.52 percent or 17.87 points, closing at 3,394.57.

“Investors took a cautious stance ahead of the BSP’s upcoming policy meeting. Investors are watching out for the BSP’s interest rate decision together with clues on its policy outlook,” Philstocks Financial said.

The central bank’s Monetary Board is widely expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points for a third straight meeting today as above-target inflation, a weak peso and mounting external risks outweigh concerns over a sharp slowdown in economic growth.

Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said the local index ended lower as selling pressure remained intact throughout the session.

He said market sentiment turned cautious following Moody’s forecast that Philippine gross domestic product growth will remain below six percent over the medium term.

“Investors stayed on the sidelines as concerns over the country’s growth outlook continued to weigh on risk appetite,” Limlingan said.

Sectoral gauges were a mixed bag, with financials leading the charge with a 0.3-percent gain, while services incurred the biggest loss at 2.47 percent.

Trading was remained thin, with total turnover value at P5.35 billion, slightly higher from P5.27 billion the previous day.

Decliners outnumbered advancers, 94 to 78, while 79 issues were unchanged.

ICTSI was the session’s most actively traded, slipping by three percent to P920.50 per share. It was followed by Ayala Land, which fell by 2.53 percent to P15.40, and BDO Unibank, which rose by 1.16 percent to P122.60.