Shares slide to 6,100 level before BSP meeting

PHILIPPINE STOCKS dropped back to the 6,100 range on Wednesday on extended profit taking and as investors stayed on the sidelines before the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) policy meeting.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped by 2.09% or 130.94 points to close at 6,114.81, while the broader all shares index decreased 1.27% or 43.53 points to end at 3,381.5.

“Investors traded cautiously while waiting for the BSP’s policy decision set tomorrow. Investors are bracing for a possible rate hike of at least 25 basis points (bps) by the BSP,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Manager Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a Viber message.

“The Philippine market opted for continued profit taking following the sharp increase in the index. Market players also lightened their positions ahead of the BSP’s interest rate decision. Investors remained cautious as they awaited further cues from monetary policy developments,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

A BusinessWorld poll of 20 analysts showed that 19 expect a second straight rate hike from the BSP on Thursday, with 15 seeing a 25-bp bump and four penciling in a bigger 50-bp increase amid persistent price pressures.

“The local market declined further due to profit taking on its heavyweight International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI),” Mr. Tantiangco added.

ICTSI was the worst index performer on Wednesday as its shares plunged by P60 or 6.25% to P900 each.

Meanwhile, Globe Telecom, Inc. was the day’s index leader, jumping 5.05% to P1,809 apiece. This came as it announced that its board approved the filing of a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission and a listing application with the PSE for the proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its affiliate Mynt, Inc., the operator of e-wallet GCash.

Mynt said the planned offering would be equivalent to 12% of its total outstanding capital stock after the IPO. The shares to be offered would consist of both primary and secondary shares, with each common share carrying a par value of three centavos.

Most sectoral indices closed lower. Services sank by 4.58% or 154.26 points to 3,207.25; holding firms slid by 2.66% or 118.58 points to 4,323.79; mining and oil dropped by 1.61% or 279.77 points to 16,997.9; property fell by 1.21% or 22.60 points to 1,833.77; and industrials went down by 0.34% or 28.98 points to 8,479.28.

Meanwhile, financials rose by 1.36% or 26.11 points to 1,935.45.

Decliners outnumbered advancers, 90 to 72, while 62 names were unchanged.

Value turnover went down to P8.26 billion with 567.15 million shares traded from the P11.80 billion with 862.02 million issues that changed hands on Tuesday.

Net foreign selling was at P127.54 million versus the P939.97 million in net buying in the previous session. — Alexandria Grace C. Magno