Stock selldown continues as US markets pull back

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market continued its downward spiral yesterday, falling back below the 7,000 mark, as investors continued to take profits after weeks of gains, mostly on concerns over developments overseas.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) finished at 6,927.75, down 73.76 points or 1.05 percent. Likewise, the broader All Shares index slipped 46.19 points or 1.10 percent to close at 4,138.09.

All subsectors finished in the red, with mining and oil and property among the biggest decliners.

Total value turnover reached P15.5 billion. Market breadth was negative, 148 to 69, while 46 issues were unchanged.

“Local shares continued to be sold down ahead of the window dressing, MSCI rebalancing, and with the US heading into a holiday. US stocks also took a breather after soaring past the 30,000-level the other day, and over undelightful unemployment data,” said Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital.

Local stocks also took the cue from the US markets which also pulled back ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Wall Street took a pause from the optimism underlined in a record-setting climb earlier in the week, with a reality check appeared to be setting in amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and a batch of discouraging data on the US economy, including jobless numbers.

“The cautious mood that had been observed in the US market had transpired to Asia into Thursday with recent euphoria equally running out of steam into midweek,” said Jingyi Pan, senior market strategist at IG in Singapore.