By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter

THE MAIN INDEX sank to the 7,100 level on Monday as it continued to take a hit from the novel coronavirus scare.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 63.76 points or 0.88% to retreat at 7,137.03 on Monday. The broader all shares index also gave up 35.38 points or 0.82% to end at 4,256.83.

“Philippine stocks fell sharply as investors grew increasingly worried about the potential economic impact of China’s fast-spreading coronavirus,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile message.

The Health department said yesterday it was studying 80 persons for possible infection to the novel coronavirus, a day after it announced the death of a Chinese man in Manila who tested positive for the disease.

Of the 80 cases, it said two already tested positive, 30 tested negative and 48 were pending results. The two that tested positive are the 44-year-old Chinese man reported dead on Sunday and the 38-year-old Chinese woman reported as the first confirmed coronavirus case in country last week.

Across the globe, the virus has killed more than 360 people and infected 17,384 people as of Monday, where 361 of the deaths and 17,205 of the confirmed cases are in mainland China, CNN reported yesterday.

In China, some local authorities decided to defer the resumption of work yesterday after an extended Lunar Holiday break to help limit the spread of the virus. China’s CSI 300 and Shanghai SE Composite indices, which both reopened after more than a week-long break on Monday, dropped 7.88% and 7.72%, respectively.

Back home, five of six sectoral indices ended lower on Monday. Mining and oil erased 332.15 points or 4.33% to 7,331.11; financials lost 36.12 points or 2.09% to 1,688.81; property shaved off 45.52 points or 1.18% to 3,793.22; services dropped 5.84 points or 0.39% to 1,469.32; and holding firms decreased 25.57 points or 0.37% to 6,874.74.

The only gaining sub-sector was industrials, which added 44.78 points or 0.50% to 8,966.22.

“While index heavyweights dragged the market today, a few non-index stocks gained double digits as market participants focused on second and third liner issues,” Timson Securities, Inc. Trader Darren T. Pangan said in a text message on Monday.

Some of the top gainers yesterday were SFA Semicon Philippines Corp. (+50%), Ionics, Inc. (+42.37%), Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp. (+23.60%), Alliance Select Foods International, Inc. (+13.73%) and Jackstones, Inc. (+13.64%).

Value turnover on Monday stood at P5.87 billion with 833.36 million issues changing hands. This is lower than previous session’s P8.30 billion worth of 2.89 billion issues.

Decliners beat advancers, 129 to 73, while 39 names ended unchanged.

Foreign investors remained sellers on Monday, but net selling was trimmed to P289.06 million from Friday’s P1.70 billion.

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