By Denise A. Valdez, Senior Reporter

LOCAL SHARES closed lower on Tuesday as the market’s sideways movement continued while investors await economic recovery indicators.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slid 13.82 points or 0.23% to close at 5,923.23, while the broader all shares index dipped 2.68 points or 0.07% to end at 3,569.14.

“The PSEi ended slightly lower as the sentiment on blue chips remained cautious. Investors are watching the economic recovery very closely and signs of a plateau or becoming more evident,” AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in an email.

“In the meantime, investors will continue to look for opportunities in the second liners and speculative issues. The improvement in the sentiment in markets abroad has failed to excite investors in our market,” he said.

He was referring to the increase in global stocks overnight. In Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices climbed 0.88%, 1.64% and 2.56%, respectively, on Monday.

“Foreign outflows continue as returns are more attractive in other markets,” Mr. Mangun said. Net foreign selling swelled to P702.06 million on Tuesday from P436.79 million on Monday.

“Overseas, the US market has been on a recent rally amid the corporate earnings season, but this is somehow not affecting the Philippine market. This clearly goes to show that investors are looking (at the 2021 national) budget,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Associate Piper Chaucer E. Tan said in a text message.

The proposed spending plan for 2021 remains under talks as it was delayed in recent weeks due to a speakership squabble at the House of Representatives.

But negative news overseas contributed to the weaker investor sentiment in the local market on Tuesday, Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said.

“The PSEi settled marginally lower against the backdrop of the looming US presidential election, increased tension between Australia and China, and stalled talks for another round of coronavirus stimulus,” he said in a mobile message.

Half of the sectoral indices at the PSE ended Tuesday’s session with some gains. Services climbed 7.28 points or 0.49% to 1,469.05; property increased 2.06 points or 0.07% to 2,756.78; and industrials added 0.18 point or less than a percent to 7,974.32.

On the other hand, mining and oil dropped 201.56 points or 2.97% to 6,564.44; holding firms fell 47.79 points or 0.77% to 6,116.74; and financials shed 1.70 points or 0.14% to 1,160.71 at the end of trading.

Some 3.83 billion issues valued at P5 billion switched hands on Tuesday, down from Monday’s 11.13 billion issues valued at P5.34 billion.

Advancers beat decliners by three names, 98 against 95. Some 59 names ended unchanged.

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