By Joann Villanueva/Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) declined for the second day in a row Tuesday as investors await the release of latest damage reports from the 6.1 magnitude quake that hit Castillejos, Zambales and other parts of Luzon past 5pm Monday.
PSEi contracted by 0.17 percent, or 13.50 points, to 7,818.93 points.
On the other hand, there was no trading of foreign exchange or debt papers after Malacanang suspended work in government offices in a bid to ease traffic as the country’s workforce recover from quake jitters, which in turn caused the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to suspend Treasury operations.
BPI Research, in a report, traced the main index’s performance to rise on global oil prices after West Texas Intermediate (WTI) increased to six-month high of USD66 per barrel due to supply concerns.
Also, Regina Capital Managing Director Luis Limlingan said investors have taken a cautious stance until the full extent of earthquake damages become clear.
“Value turn-over remained thin and sentiment cautious just as US stocks posted a muted performance on Monday as the busiest week of the corporate earnings season kicked-off,” he added
All Shares, on the other hand, rose 0.09 percent, or 4.36 points, to 4,839.04 points.
Most of the sectors weakened during the day namely the Services, which went down 0.84 percent; Holding Firms, 0.49 percent; Industrial, 0.37 percent; and Mining and Oil, 0.32 percent.
Meanwhile, Property improved by 0.85 percent.
Volume was thin at 569.4 million shares amounting to PHP6.6 billion.
Losers led gainers at 120 to 72 while 47 shares were unchanged.
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