Stocks on losing streak on lack of strong catalysts

MANILA, Philippines — Investors shied away from the market again yesterday as the continued absence of strong catalysts forced them to park their funds elsewhere.

The benchmark 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index or PSEi slipped to 5,738.39 points, down 60.85 points or 1.04 percent while the broader All Shares index went down by 27.25 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 3,474.01.

All the other gauges, except for the services sector, fell into negative territory, with the property, financials and mining and oil as the biggest losers.

Total value turnover reached P6.377 billion. Market breadth was negative, 111 decliners to 64 advancers, while 55 issues were unchanged.

Traders said the market has been on a losing streak, no thanks to heavy selling of property stocks as malls continue to bear the brunt of the negative impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 pandemic.

“The PSEi ended lower again yesterday, marking five days of consecutive losses as Ayala Land Inc. drags the whole index lower. Investors were selling heavily all day as ALI was seen to take a bigger hit compared to its rival SM Prime Holdings, as its mall segment solely relies on rental leases unlike its competitor that owns and operates department stores and supermarkets. ALI was also the most traded stock for the day. It has seen losses for 11 straight trading sessions,” said Chris Mangun of AAA Southeast Equities.

ALI closed at P27 per share, down 4.59 percent while SMPH closed at P28.05, down 1.58 percent.

Mangun said the PSEi is now due for a technical bounce as it approaches its strong support of 5,690 and thus recovery may happen in the coming days.