PSEi fell for the sixth day in a row in foreign sales

PSEi fell for the sixth day in a row in foreign sales, The PHILIPPINE Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed lower for the sixth day in a row on Wednesday due to increased selling pressure from foreign investors.

The benchmark index fell 0.04% or 2.77 points to close at 6,366.03, while the broader stock index fell 0.06% or 2.08 points to close at 3,438.46.

“The local stock exchange mainly traded in green. However, due to a lack of new catalysts, the market fell at the last minute,” said research analyst Claire T. Alviar of Philstocks Financial, Inc. in a Viber message.

“In addition, foreign investors further squeezed the market…Over the past six trading days, the market has experienced net foreign selling,” she added.

On Wednesday, net foreign sales amounted to P594.67 million, higher than Tuesday’s net foreign outflow of P262.54 million.

Luis A. Limlingan, chief sales officer of Regina Capital Development Corp., said in a Viber message that stock market investors have been factoring in the likelihood that the central bank will make fewer interest rate cuts this year.

“Philippine stocks traded flat, with little market activity on lower-than-average turnover,” he said.

Analysts now expect the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to make fewer rate cuts later this year as the US Federal Reserve has signaled delays in policy easing.

Most sector indexes in the stock market ended higher, led by the services sector, which rose 0.93% or 18.22 points to 1,958.93.

Holdings rose 0.3% or 17.18 points to 5,598.33, while mining and oil rose 0.23% or 20.88 points to 8,749.06. Financial services rose 0.1% or 2.06 points to 1,934.86.

On the other hand, industrials fell 0.89% or 80.50 points to 8,966.58; while real estate fell 0.77% or 19.03 points to 2,438.25.

“Among the index members was Bloomberry Resorts Corp. at the top, up 1.8%, while Century Pacific Food, Inc. was at the bottom and lost 3.15%,” said Ms Alviar.

Value turnover improved to P4.07 billion with 363.03 million shares changing hands, compared to the P2.97 billion and 706.84 million shares traded on Tuesday.

There were more advancers than decliners, 99 versus 85, while 48 issues remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, Asian shares rose to a one-month high on Wednesday, buoyed by a rally in technology stocks, while the dollar held steady as soft US retail sales boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates later this year.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1% and on track for a gain of more than 4% in June.

The region’s tech stocks rose more than 2% to a record high as the rally continued, with AI darling Nvidia dethroning Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable company on Tuesday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave of Reuters