Index resumes slide on lack of catalysts

MANILA, Philippines — Share prices resumed their downtrend as the absence of market-moving developments kept investors on the sidelines, traders said yesterday.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell for the fifth consecutive trading session to 8,084.45, down 0.73 percent or 59.57 points.

Analysts noted the benchmark may even drop below 8,000 due to the lack of support and not enough catalysts to keep it afloat.

The broader All Shares index was likewise battered by massive selloff, closing down 27.21 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 4,758.65.

Taking the cue from the two main indexes, the sectoral counters except the industrial index all ended in the red, with the services index as the biggest decliner.

Total value turnover reached P7.55 billion. Market breadth was negative with 119 decliners to 68 advancers, while 55 issues were left unchanged.

Commenting on yesterday’s session, Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital said Philippine stocks began yesterday’s session on a cautious note following a decline in US stocks on Friday.

On the US market, Limlingan said there was added concern because Senate Republicans narrowly passed a bill to overhaul the tax system.

“One change secured would increase a proposed 17.4 percent deduction of income for those entities to 23 percent, which will be paid for with an increase in the repatriation tax rate for foreign earnings from the original 10 percent to 14 percent,” he said, commenting on the behavior of Wall Street.