REUTERS

PHILIPPINE SHARES sank to the 6,000 level on Monday to hit a five-month low due to selling pressure amid a lack of leads, weak market sentiment, and lingering corruption concerns.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) declined by 0.84% or 51.78 points to close at 6,057.43, while the broader all shares index decreased by 0.4% or 15.02 points to end at 3,670.57.

This was the PSEi’s worst finish in over five months or since it closed at 6,006.34 on April 8.

“The index continued to flirt with the 6,000 level as political noise continues to cloud investor sentiment,” AP Securities, Inc. said in a market report.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said no one will be exempt from an independent investigation into alleged anomalies in infrastructure projects, as he vowed to rebuild public trust as protests over corruption loom, Reuters reported.

Mr. Marcos assured the graft-weary public that the probe would break from past efforts, calling it an “inflection point” in how the government operates and spends funds.

He appointed a former Supreme Court justice to lead a newly formed commission and said it would tackle all wrongdoers no matter who they are, with congressional investigations already implicating several powerful political figures.

“The local market declined on its first day of the week, weighed by the weakness of the Philippine peso against the US dollar,” Philstocks Financial Inc. Research Manager Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said in a market report. The peso dropped by 8.10 centavos to close at P57.181 per dollar on Monday, and has ended at the P57 level for four consecutive sessions as markets await the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting this week, where it is expected to deliver its first rate cut since late last year.

“The lack of a local positive catalyst also caused investors to exit the market. Foreign investors were net sellers for the day, with net outflows… adding to the market’s drop,” Mr. Tantiangco said.

Net foreign selling was at P473.25 million on Monday, a reversal of the P293.44 million in net buying recorded on Friday.

Most sectoral indices closed lower. Financials fell by 2.43% or 50.02 points to 2,006.24; holding firms decreased by 1.19% or 60.31 points to 4,985.73; property went down by 1.19% or 29.90 points to 2,473.36; and mining and oil dropped by 0.29% or 33.82 points to 11,436.02.

Meanwhile, services increased by 0.99% or 21.43 points to 2,178.54, and industrials climbed by 0.32% or 28.90 points to 8,983.85.

Value turnover went down to P6.24 billion on Monday with 3.48 billion shares traded from the P6.82 billion with 6.27 billion stocks that changed hands on Friday.

“Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. was the day’s top index gainer, jumping 6.43% to P11.92. DigiPlus Interactive Corp. was the main index laggard, plunging 7.04% to P18.50,” Mr. Tantiangco said.

Decliners outnumbered advancers, 117 to 84, while 53 names were unchanged. — A.G.C. Magno with Reuters