PSEi drops below 6,500; inflation data awaited

@TyronePiad Investors sold off their position immediately after buying up shares on the first day of trading, prompting the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) to again drop below 6,500.Value turnover also slowed down to P3.11 billion from P3.66 billion a day before after a trading suspension of more than two hours was implemented on Wednesday. PSE halted trading at 9:32 a.m. and resumed at 11:56 a.m. No reason was given. The benchmark PSEi dropped by 0.84 percent, or 55.16 points, to end at 6,498.88 while the broader All-Shares slid 0.45 percent, or 15.73 points, to sit at 3,450.24 by the closing bell.“Here at home, investors are on the sidelines awaiting for the first inflation print of the year which will be released this Friday,” Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said. Inflation dropped to 4.1 percent in November from 4.9 percent the month before following the decline in food prices, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. “Market participation remained weak, with the net market value turnover posting at P2.55 billion,” said Claire Alviar, assistant manager for research and online engagement at Philstocks Financial Inc. All sub sectors were in the red. Financials and services indices saw the steepest declines at 1.31 percent and 1.01 percent, respectively. Winners outpaced losers, 74-71, while 49 issues were unchanged.

The most actively traded shares, SM Investments Corp., dipped by 0.34 percent to P879 each.

This was followed by SM Prime Holdings Inc., down 0.15 percent to P32.25; BDO Unibank Inc., down 1.25 percent to P126.20; Jollibee Foods Corp., down 0.16 percent to P254.60; Universal Robina Corp., down 3.31 percent to P119.90; and Ayala Land Inc., down 0.87 percent to P34.25.

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Other active names were International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 2.42 percent to P249.80; Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 2.17 percent to P103.50; GT Capital Holdings, down 0.42 percent to P597.50; and AREIT Inc., up 0.90 percent to P33.65. INQ