PSEi ends week in the red on profit-taking
The local stock barometer ended the week in the doldrums as investors pocketed gains from blue chips while online gaming woes escalated.
The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) shed 73.41 points or 1.13 percent to close at 6,395.57 on Friday.
Instead of breaking out of the 6,400-resistance as earlier expected, the PSEi slipped by 12.7 points, ending flat from last week’s finish of 6,408.27.
Bloomberry Resorts, a new player in the online gaming space, fell 8.72 percent as it was also affected by online gaming curbs that are on the table of regulators and lawmakers.
Although not yet part of the PSEi, DigiPlus saw its steepest fall since the recent sell-off.
The Tanco group-led company slid by another 23.87 percent to close at P29.50 per share.
The former stock market darling has now lost 39 percent of its value since June 30, when bills calling for online regulatory curbs were filed at the Senate and the Lower House.
Furthermore, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas talked about regulatory curbs on online gaming via its supervised e-wallets on Thursday.
Such measures – which have been under study for months or even before the filing of online gaming bills – are seen to have an immediate impact on Digiplus and its peers.
All counters ended lower, led by property and services, which both tumbled by more than 2 percent. The counter for holding firms also slipped by 1.52 percent.
“Philippine shares were sold down as investors booked profits despite June inflation print coming in relatively stable at 1.4 percent,” said Luis Gerardo Limlingan, head of sales at Regina Capital Development.
Market value turnover declined to P6.62 billion. Market breadth remained negative as 111 decliners edged out 85 advancers, while 54 issuers were unchanged.
Despite the day’s decline, foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of P295.82 million.
