By Arra B. Francia, Senior Reporter

LOCAL EQUITIES fell on Monday ahead of the policy meetings of the US Federal Reserve and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) this week.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) plunged 1.01% or 81.21 points to close at 7,908.99 yesterday, continuing its losses since Friday. The broader all-shares index likewise declined 0.86% or 42.19 points to 4,842.72.

“Investors resumed profit-taking ahead of the some important events towards the end of the the week namely the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee), BSP meeting and FTSE (Financial Times Stock Exchange) rebalancing,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile phone message.

The FOMC will have its two-day policy meeting from June 18-19, where it is expected to keep interest rates steady.

Meanwhile, the BSP’s Monetary Board will also meet on Thursday, June 20 for its own review where it is also seen to hold fire.

“Sentiment carrying over from last week was also negative as US stocks fell over the sharp decline in the broader tech sector,” Mr. Limlingan added.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 0.07% or 17.16 points to close at 26,089.61 last Friday. The S&P 500 index tumbled 0.16% or 4.66 points to 2,886.98, while the Nasdaq Composite index retreated 0.52% or 40.47 points to 7,796.66.

Most Southeast Asian stock markets also trod water on Monday as market participants stayed on the sidelines ahead of a slew of central bank policy meetings, while political tensions in Hong Kong and the Middle East kept risk appetite in check.

“Everyone is waiting to see if the central banks can actually be more dovish on interest rates to support markets, considering there’s a lot of downside risk coming in from the trade wars,” said Joanne Goh, an equity strategist with DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore.

On the other hand, Papa Securities Corp. Sales Associate Gabriel Jose F. Perez attributed the local market’s decline to net foreign selling.

Net foreign outflows increased to P587.43 million on Monday versus the previous session’s P388.11 million.

All sectoral indices moved to negative territory, led by services which dropped 1.42% or 24.08 points to 1,670.79. Industrials shed 1.18% or 139.38 points to 11,591.94; financials went down 1.09% or 19.11 points to 1,723.68; property slipped 0.87% or 38.02 points to 4,294.55; holding firms slumped 0.63% or 48.15 points to 7,494.36; while mining and oil dropped 0.26% or 19.21 points to 7,133.57.

Some 663.59 million issues valued at P5.02 billion switched hands, lower than Friday’s P7.68-billion turnover.

Decliners were almost double the advancers, 136 to 70, while 43 names were unchanged. — with Reuters

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