LOCAL STOCKS declined on Wednesday as investors pocketed gains from the market’s rise earlier this week ahead of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) policy meeting.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) went down by 26.85 points or 0.41% to close at 6,392.09 on Wednesday, while the broader all shares index declined by 3.28 points or 0.09% to 3,376.30.
“The market took a breather after its three-day rally as investors took profit ahead of the BSP’s meeting tomorrow,” AP Securities, Inc. Equity Research Analyst Carlos Angelo O. Temporal said in a Viber message on Wednesday.
“The local bourse declined amid profit taking after three straight days of the market rally, while waiting for the BSP meeting tomorrow. At the BSP meeting, aside from the anticipated interest rate hike, we think that investors will be waiting for the outlook of the central bank toward the inflation rate at least for the end of the year,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Analyst Claire T. Alviar said in a Viber message on Wednesday.
The Monetary Board is set to increase benchmark interest rates by 75 basis points (bps) at its meeting on Thursday as the central bank seeks to rein in rising inflation and support the currency.
The BSP has raised borrowing rates by 225 bps since May.
Meanwhile, Ms. Alviar said geopolitical tensions between Russia and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) also weighed on the local market.
Reuters reported that Poland is likely to request consultations under NATO’s Article 4 after a missile, reportedly Russian-made, struck Polish territory near the border with Ukraine, and raise the issue at a United Nations Security Council meeting on Wednesday, officials said.
Two people were killed in an explosion in a village 6 kilometers (3.5 miles) from the border, with Polish President Andrzej Duda saying that Poland had no conclusive evidence showing who fired the missile.
Back home, sectoral indices were split. Mining and oil rose by 93.42 points or 0.95% to 9,849.78; services went up by 13.25 points or 0.81% to 1,649.54; and property gained 9.71 points or 0.34% to end at 2,809.43.
Meanwhile, financials declined by 21.10 points or 1.29% to 1,605.48; holding firms went down by 58.03 points or 0.94% to 6,095.83; and industrials lost 28.58 points or 0.3% to close at 9,329.44.
Value turnover climbed to P7.23 billion on Wednesday with 968.99 million shares changing hands from the P5.13 billion with 725.68 million issues traded on Tuesday.
Net foreign buying surged to P1.09 billion on Wednesday from P522.90 million on Tuesday.
Advancers outnumbered decliners, 92 versus 82, while 49 names closed unchanged.
AP Securities’ Mr. Temporal placed the PSEi’s immediate support at 6,200 and resistance at 6,500. — A.E.O. Jose with Reuters
