PSEi closes flat; online gaming firms under scrutiny
The local stock barometer ended flat on Wednesday ahead of the next inflation report while regulatory risks hounded online gaming firms.
DigiPlus, the most actively traded stock, tumbled by 10 percent as investors priced in rising regulatory risks.
On Tuesday, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian filed a bill to tighten online gaming regulations. Among others, he sought to impose a higher top-up requirement of P10,000, prohibit the use of e-wallets like GCash and Maya for online gaming payments and limit advertising.
Although DigiPlus is not yet part of the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi), the same online gaming woes affected index component Bloomberry Resorts Corp., which fell by 1.57 percent.
The operator of Solaire Resort & Casino is just entering the online gaming space to complement its brick-and-mortar operations. New players are the ones seen more vulnerable to prospective advertising limits.
At the end of the session, the PSEi shed 4.8 points or 0.07 percent to close at 6,419.05.
The All Shares Index ended flat at 3,796.91, down by 2.45 points or 0.06 percent.
“Philippine shares stayed afloat above the 6,400 level as investors maintained a cautious stance, closely monitoring the market ahead of Friday’s inflation report for signals on future economic conditions,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, head of sales at Regina Capital Development Corp.
Joseph Roxas, president of Eagle Equites Inc., said the market had just taken a breather but still on the way up, noting the increase in trading volume.
About P7.77 billion worth of trades were coursed through the local bourse.
“I think the reduction in stock transaction tax really helped because your cost is now lower by half-percent and that’s big,” Roxas said.
Before the tax reform, daily volume was just at P3 billion to P4 billion, he noted.
“People are waiting for the results of (PSEi) index calculation,” Roxas said, explaining the marginal index decline during the session.
The PSEi was weighed down most by the mining/oil counter, which lost 2.05 percent. This was mostly due to profit-taking following hefty gains in recent months.
The financial and services indices also ended in negative territory, while the industrial, holding firm and property counters all firmed up.
Losers outnumbered winners 111 to 76, while 67 companies were unchanged.
Meanwhile, the top three banks BDO (-0.99 percent), BPI (-2.07 percent) and Metrobank (-1.39 percent) all lost ground. Roxas said this could just be a technical correction.
