PSE Index Bogged Down By Bearish Sentiment

The bearish sentiment continued to prevail in the market, leading to a decline in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index by 1.77 points or 0.03 percent, closing at 6,124.57 points.

Photo Insert: The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, September 18, 2023

Despite a late charge before the close that saw holdings and industrials ending on a positive note, the financial sector continued to decline, and the mining and oil sector turned south after a small gain during market recess.

Net foreign selling persisted, amounting to P419 million, with foreign buying at P1.3 billion and foreign selling at P1.7 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, with 121 stocks declining, 58 advancing, and 52 remaining unchanged.

Financials closed 0.73 percent lower, with a small 0.18 percent decline at market recess. Industrials and holding firms ended the day with gains of 0.03 percent and 0.10 percent, respectively, although they were down by 0.19 percent and 0.30 percent during the market recess.

Services declined by 0.28 percent, mining and oil were down by 0.85 percent, and property posted a gain of 0.41 percent. Notably, Ayala Land recorded a gain of 2.39 percent at P27.80, offsetting the loss in SM Prime, which fell by 15 centavos to P29.25.

PLDT was the most active stock with P346 million in trades, experiencing a 2.92 percent decline to P1,096, resulting in a P33 loss. Aboitiz Power gained 10 centavos to P31.70 due to its buy-back policy, with trades amounting to P282 million.

BDO Unibank was the third most active with P276 million, advancing by 50 centavos to P129.50.

Metrobank, with net foreign selling of P113 million out of its total trade of P159 million, lost P1.10 or 2.07 percent, closing at P52. Other bank losers included Bank of PI, down by P2 to P108, and Security Bank, down by P1.25 to P76.85, contributing to the decline in the financial sector.

Market bellwether SM Investments rose by P7 to P810, while Semirara Mining gained 50 centavos to P35. However, NickelAsia declined by 3.27 percent to P5.10, a loss of 20 centavos, resulting in the decline of the mining and oil sub-index. Atlas Mining also fell by 5 centavos to P3.05.

Other notable losers included GT Capital, down by P6.50 to P586.50, Bloomberry, down 6 centavos to P10.84, Converge, down by 30 centavos to P8.70, Aboitiz Equity, down by P1.55 to P45.70, JG Summit, down by 10 centavos to P37.20, and Alliance Global, down by 2 centavos to P12.52.

On the other hand, gainers included ICTSI, up by P4 to P209, Jollibee Foods, up by P1.80 to P230, Ayala Corp, up by P3 to P622.50, Megaworld, up by 1 centavo to P2, Emperador, up by 10 centavos to P20.95, and PNB, up by 14 centavos to P18.50. Globe Telecom remained unchanged at P1,752.

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