PSEi starts new trading week in the red, stays just above 6000

Recent developments at the Senate, as well as profit-taking, weighed down the local bourse on Monday.

By the closing bell, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) had tumbled by 1.78 percent, or 108.54 points, to end at 6,000.32.

Likewise, the broader All Shares Index shed 1.14 percent, or 41.9 points, to close at 3,643.95.

A total of 2.1 billion shares worth P12.12 billion changed hands, stock exchange data showed.

Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said “latest political noises, especially at the Senate,” contributed to the market’s decline.

Over the weekend, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said he had resigned as chair of the blue ribbon committee amid his colleagues’ “disappointment” over the panel’s probe into anomalous flood control projects.

While the bourse opened higher, it eventually settled in the red territory for the rest of the trading day.

The index’s decline also came ahead of the release of the September inflation print, which analysts say may have accelerated due to recent storm damage and the rice import freeze.

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Conglomerates saw the heaviest bleeding, with declines from SM Investments Corp. (down 1.74 percent to P732), Ayala Corp. (down 2.53 percent to P477.60) and GT Capital Holdings Inc. (down 2.44 percent to P579.50).

International Container Terminal Services Inc. was the most actively traded stock as it lost 0.78 percent to P508 per share. Others were BDO Unibank Inc., down 1.81 percent to P135.50; Ayala Land Inc., down 2.89 percent to P23.50; and Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 3.89 percent to P108.60 each.

Losers overpowered gainers, 139 to 64, while 58 companies closed flat, stock exchange data also showed.