PSE INDEX DOWN AGAIN ON FOREIGN SELLING

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) index closed lower today as foreign investors continued to unload more than they bought in another sell down triggering a decline of 45.15 points or 0.69 percent to 6,494.81 points, with the property counter down anew as the top property firms posted losses.

Ayala Land, the second top traded stock with P528 million in trades, buckled under foreign selling of P299 million to close lower at P33.25, while SM Prime went down by a higher 65-centavo loss to close at P35.85 on trades of P137 million, to push down the property sector 1.43 percent lower.

Net foreign selling amounted to P522 million on foreign buying of P1.87 million and foreign selling of P2.394 billion, with market bellwether SM Investments finishing the day P2 lower to P978 on trades of P106 million.

Its trading performance mirrored the lack of foreign interest as it dropped to a low of P970.50 after opening at P980 and hitting a high 50 centavos higher.

Market darling MerryMart was up by 42 centavos to P5.58 with trades of P98 million.

Mining stocks resonated with the government pronouncement allowing the opening of extraction industries that benefitted Nickel Asia Mining as it gained 10 centavos to P5.45, the tenth most active stock with P121 million in value turnover.

Lepanto also gained although it gyrated between a high of P 0.167 and a low of P0.151 before closing at P0.16, up by P0.014 resulting in a rise in the mining and oil sub-sector by 1.92 percent.

Value turnover amounted to P5.666 billion with 104 gainers, 108 losers, and 44 shares unchanged with the financials in a slight uptick of 0.07 percent, with Metrobank up by 35 centavos to P44.70.

Market analysts said the lack of catalysts continued to haunt the local market with the COVID-19 response of the government showing the death of vaccines amidst the rise in coronavirus cases.

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