PSEi loses 6,600 anchor as weak China GDP jolts markets

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) slid below 6,600 as investors weighed external risks. By the closing bell, the PSEi slumped 0.97 percent, or 64.49 points, to 6,572.51 while the broader All Shares index was down 0.84 percent, or 29.57 points, to 3,476.66.

“Philippine shares continued to slide with Hong Kong and China equities plunging after the latest growth print showed that the second largest economy grew at the slowest pace in three decades when excluding the pandemic,” Luis Gerardo Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage house Regina Capital Development, said on Wednesday. Data from the stock exchange showed 590.13 million shares valued at P6.68 billion changing hands while foreigners made net purchases of P63.22 million. All subsectors were down, led by mining and oil (-2.02 percent) and property (-1.61 percent).

BDO Unibank Inc. was the top traded stock as it sank 0.07 percent to P139.20 per share.

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It was followed by Ayala Land Inc., down 3 percent to P32.30; Universal Robina Corp., down 2.75 percent to P116.90; International Container Terminal Services Inc., down 0.16 percent to P248; and GT Capital Holdings Inc., up 1.78 percent to P628 per share. SM Prime Holdings Inc. was down 1.19 percent to P33.35; Bank of the Philippine Islands, flat at P109; SM Investments Corp., down 1.69 percent to P875; Ayala Corp., up 0.44 percent to P683; and Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., up 0.36 percent to P55.50 per share. Overall, there were 108 losers against 80 advancers while 50 companies closed unchanged, data from the stock exchange showed. —Miguel R. Camus INQ