PSE Index Down

Uncertainty again gripped the market with the six sub-indices posting losses and value turnover below average and losers overwhelming gainers to close 50.59 points or 0.70 percent down to 7,152.88 points.

Photo Insert: The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index, April 1, 2022

Market bellwether SM Investments lost p11 to close at p898 with trades of p190 million resulting in the big loss of holding firms' index of 1.11 percent while the other sub-indices went down below one percent.

Financials lost 0.66, industrials by 0.58 percent, services by 0.73 percent, mining and oil by 0.49 percent, and property by 0.17 percent.

Value turnover was just at p5.4 billion as foreign investors opted to wait it out and with locals offloading their stocks. Losers were almost double the gainers, 106 to 65 with 46 shares unchanged.

Ayala Land and SM Prime were the two top traded stocks with respective trades of p361 million and p320 million respectively but the former lost 10 centavos to p34.95 while the latter gained 5 centavos to p37.90.

Only two of the top 20 active stocks posted gains indicating the breadth of the decline. Aside from SM Prime, the other gainer was ICTSI, which went up by p1.80 to p226.60.

Investors see the Ukraine crisis to continue as reports say Russia is concentrating on taking the Donbas region. On the economic front, the Philippines' inflation spike is seen to hurt the market.

Among the big losers were PLDT, which closed 2.97 percent lower or p65 down to p1, 795, Jollibee, down p2 to p222, Robinsons Land, down 20 centavos to p20.30, Ayala Corp, down p6 to p818, Globe, down p20 to p2,520, Solar Philippines down 6 centavos to p1.85.

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