PSEi down for a sixth straight day on foreign selling

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed lower for a sixth consecutive day on Wednesday amid increased selling pressure from foreign investors.

The benchmark index slipped by 0.04% or 2.77 points to end at 6,366.03, while the broader all shares index dropped by 0.06% or 2.08 points to close at 3,438.46.

“The local bourse traded mostly in the green. However, due to a lack of fresh catalysts, the market dropped at the last minute,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Analyst Claire T. Alviar said in a Viber message.

“Moreover, foreign investors weighed further on the market…For the past six trading days, the market has experienced net foreign selling,” she added.

On Wednesday, net foreign selling reached PHP 594.67 million, higher than the PHP 262.54 million worth of net foreign outflows on Tuesday.

Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message that stock market investors have factored in the likelihood of the central bank implementing fewer rate cuts this year.

“Philippine shares traded flat with little market making activity on lower than average value turnover,” he said.

Analysts are now expecting the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to implement fewer rate cuts later in the year, as the US Federal Reserve has signaled delays in policy easing.

Most of the stock market’s sectoral indices ended higher led by services which rose by 0.93% or 18.22 points to 1,958.93.

Holding firms improved by 0.3% or 17.18 points to 5,598.33, while mining and oil inched up by 0.23% or 20.88 points to 8,749.06. Financials increased by 0.1% or 2.06 points to 1,934.86.

On the other hand, industrials slid by 0.89% or 80.50 points to 8,966.58; while property fell by 0.77% or 19.03 points to 2,438.25.

“Among the index members, Bloomberry Resorts Corp. was at the top, increasing by 1.8% while Century Pacific Food, Inc. was at the bottom, losing 3.15%,” Ms. Alviar said.

Value turnover improved to PHP 4.07 billion with 363.03 million shares changing hands compared with the PHP 2.97 billion and 706.84 million stocks traded on Tuesday.

Advancers outnumbered decliners, 99 versus 85, while 48 issues were unchanged.

Meanwhile, Asian shares rose to a one-month high on Wednesday, buoyed by a rally in tech stocks, while the dollar was steady as soft US retail sales data reinforced expectations of the Federal Reserve cutting rates later this year.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan  was 1% higher and on track for a more than 4% gain in June.

The tech stocks in the region rose over 2% to a record high as the rally raged on with AI darling Nvidia dethroning Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable company on Tuesday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave with Reuters