Philippine Stock Exchange index

Local shares closed the week in the red as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) concerns continued to cloud market sentiment and as investors anticipate first- quarter corporate earnings reports.

The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped by 37.46 points or 0.58% on Friday to close at 6,378.07, while the broader all shares index lost 20.22 points or 0.51% to end at 3,927.19.

“The index failed to stay above the 6,400 support level for this week as investors continued to have a cautious stance given sustained high positivity rate and daily COVID-19 cases despite the stricter measures imposed this April,” Lance U. Soledad, junior equity analyst at AB Capital Securities, Inc., said in a Viber message.

The Health department logged 8,719 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, which brought the country’s overall tally to 979,740. Active cases are now at 102,799.

For Timson Securities, Inc. Trader Darren Blaine T. Pangan, investors remained on the sidelines as they anticipated for first-quarter corporate financial results.

“In the international scene, economic threats of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to weigh on investor sentiment,” Mr. Pangan said in a separate Viber message.

Majority of PSE’s sectoral indices closed in the red on Friday, except for financials, which gained 1.99 points or 0.14% to finish at 1,384.02.

Meanwhile, mining and oil shaved off 144.88 points or 1.63% to 8,727.77; holding firms declined by 58.19 points or 0.89% to 6,448.55; property gave up 21.2 points or 0.67% to 3,108.51; services went down 9.72 points or 0.67% to close at 1,435.99; and industrials lost 17.9 points or 0.2% to 8,620.77.

Value turnover increased to P5.87 billion with 2.04 billion issues traded on Friday from the P5.65 billion with 3.66 billion shares switching hands seen on Thursday. Decliners bested advancers, 132 against 64, while 47 names closed unchanged.

Net foreign selling inched up to P1.31 billion on Friday from the previous trading day’s P1.12 billion.

For next week, First Metro Investment Corp. Head of Research Cristina S. Ulang said in a Viber message she expects “technical recovery on bargain hunting,” while AB Capital Securities’ Mr. Soledad placed the index support level at 6,200. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

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