Philippine stocks slide for seventh straight day

Philippine stocks slid for a seventh straight session on Tuesday as selling persisted due to worries over corruption issues and the peso’s weakness against the dollar.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) sank by 0.73% or 44.14 points to close at 5,953.46, while the broader all shares index dropped 0.42% or 15.55 points to 3,620.79.

This was a fresh near six-month low for the PSEi as this was its worst close since it finished at 5,822.85 on April 7. The bellwether last posted losses for seven consecutive days in mid-December last year in the lead-up to a US Federal Reserve policy meeting where it was expected to adopt a hawkish tone due to concerns over growth prospects in the world’s largest economy.

“The Philippine market remains in the red after seven consecutive trading days. Selling pressure across the board persists as investors remain cautious about the overall state of the market,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

Net foreign selling surged to PHP 2.01 billion on Tuesday from PHP 405.93 million on Monday

“The local market extended its decline to a seventh straight day as dismay over the Philippines’ corruption issues continued to weigh on sentiment,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message.

The peso’s continued decline against the dollar also continued to affect market sentiment, both analysts said. The local unit sank to a fresh two-month low of PHP 58.196 per dollar on Tuesday, down by 5.10 centavos from the prior day.

“Finally, the lack of a positive catalyst added to the market’s decline,” Mr. Tantiangco added.

The majority of sectoral indices ended in the red on Tuesday. Property declined by 2.02% or 47.15 points to 2,278.19; services retreated by 1.12% or 24.51 points to 2,152.39; holding firms went down by 1.03% or 50.93 points to 4,880.73; and industrials sank by 0.42% or 37.42 points to 8,777.65.

Meanwhile, mining and oil climbed by 1.45% or 183.84 points to 12,837.50, and financials went up by 0.31% or 6.37 points to 2,053.54.

“Bank of the Philippine Islands was the day’s top index gainer, climbing 3.6% to PHP 115. ACEN Corp. was the main index laggard, falling 3.69% to PHP 2.35,” Mr. Tantiangco said.

Value turnover increased to P9.09 billion on Tuesday with 1.57 billion shares traded from Monday’s PHP 4.72 billion with 1.37 billion shares changing hands.

Decliners overwhelmed advancers, 129 to 79, while 45 names closed unchanged.

Caution prevailed in world markets on Tuesday, with the dollar and equities slipping and gold hitting another record high amid fears a US government shutdown could delay key jobs data, Reuters reported. US Vice-President JD Vance said the government appeared “headed to a shutdown” after little progress in budget talks between President Donald Trump and Democratic opponents. — A.G.C. Magno with Reuters