PHILIPPINE SHARES dropped further on Tuesday, with the main index back at the 6,100 level, as market sentiment was affected by corruption concerns.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) declined by 1.54% or 96.29 points to close at 6,118.54, while the broader all shares index went down by 0.95% or 35.62 points to end at 3,693.67.
“Prices declined further as investors grew more cautious about the ongoing issues facing the country, which continue to weigh on overall market confidence,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.
“The market continued to retreat to support levels as corruption hearings in the Senate resume,” AP Securities, Inc. said in a market report.
At a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on Tuesday, a former Department of Public Works and Highways official accused several legislators of receiving payoffs from flood control projects in Bulacan.
Ex-district engineer Henry C. Alcantara said project proponents got as much as 30% of funding intended for flood projects, though he admitted having no direct transactions with the lawmakers.
“Despite the optimistic outlook for additional BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) rate cuts and a stable inflation rate, the market still moved lower, reflecting the prevailing bearish sentiment among participants,” Mr. Limlingan added.
Last month, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) lowered borrowing costs by 25 basis points (bps) for the third meeting in a row, reducing the policy rate to 5%. Since August 2024, it has cut benchmark interest rates by a total of 150 bps.
BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. said that they could deliver one last cut this year to support the economy if needed, depending on the data.
Most sectoral indices ended in the red on Tuesday. Financials fell by 2.42% or 51.41 points to 2,068.55; services went down by 1.47% or 33.62 points to 2,239.79; holding firms sank 1.45% or 74.20 points to 5,023.04; property dropped by 1.24% or 30.18 points to 2,403.03; and industrials declined by 0.69% or 61.89 points to 8,873.02.
Meanwhile, mining and oil jumped by 3.68% or 436.67 points to 12,293.52.
“The sector counters were all deeply in the red except for mining, which racked up a 3.68% gain on the back of surging gold prices,” AP Securities said.
The metal hit a fresh record at $3,759.02 per ounce to nearly 9% higher for the month so far, Reuters reported.
Value turnover surged to P22.69 billion on Tuesday with 2.72 billion shares traded from the P5.01 billion with 1.19 billion stocks that changed hands on Monday.
Decliners outnumbered advancers, 129 to 78, while 56 names closed unchanged.
Net foreign buying was at P7.05 billion on Tuesday, a reversal of the P343.27 million in net selling recorded on Monday. — Alexandria Grace C. Magno