Index plunges for 4th straight trading session

MANILA, Philippines — The stock market plunged for the fourth straight session yesterday as growing fears over the spread of a more dangerous COVID variant further dampened investor sentiment.

The benchmark 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell 110.99 points or 1.68 percent to 6,476.21 while the broader All Shares index slipped 53.55 points or 1.31 percent to end at 4,031.00.

Total value turnover reached P5.9 billion. Market breadth was negative as decliners outpaced advancers, 167 to 45, while 41 issues were unchanged.

Foreign funds were again net sellers for the 12th straight session with P215 million excluding block sales.

“The local market plunged back to the 6,400-level as President Duterte hinted of a possible return to stricter restrictions if Delta variant further spreads in the country” AB Capital Securities said in a commentary.

PhilStocks Financial Inc. analyst Japhet Tantiangco said worries over the Delta variant have put the market on a continued decline, with the PSEi falling more than 100 points for the second straight session.

He said the risk the Delta variant poses on the economy sustained the pessimism.

“The increase in the daily COVID-19 case counts in the National Capital Region as per the OCTA Research Group also weighed on sentiment. This comes as the increase raises the risk of the NCR being placed in tight quarantine measures again. Take note that the said region is the biggest contributor to our local economy accounting for 32.1 percent of the total on average in the last five years,” Tantiangco said.