Foreign selling downs Philippine shares

Share prices on the Philippine Stock Exchange fell for the third consecutive trading day on Monday, as foreign investors continued liquidating position in the market.

The main PSEi lost 15.78 points or 0.19 percent to close at 8,487.91. The broader All Shares fell 2.48 points or 0.05 percent to 5,025.90.

“Heavy foreign selling on index heavyweights ... Foreigners continued to be net sellers, selling index heavyweights like SM Investments, Ayala Land,” Jeffrey Lucero, equity research analyst at RCBC Securities Inc., said.

Shares of SM Investments Corp. closed Monday at P980 per share, down P5 or 0.51 percent from P985 on Friday.

Ayala Land Inc. dropped P0.4 or 0.91 percent to close at P43.55 per share.

“Foreigners were also net sellers in JFC (Jollibee Foods Corp.) in the amount of P120 million. JFC was today’s biggest loser,” Lucero said.

Jollibee shares closed at P283 per share, down P9 or 3.08 percent from P292 on Friday.

Foreign funds bought P2.003 billion of shares during the session and sold P3.272 billion for a net selling position of P1.268 billion.

“Just last week, we have ... begun net foreign selling, with 49 percent of the activity coming from them,” Paul Michael Angelo, senior analyst at Regina Capital Development Corp., said.

“This is a continuation of the sell-off,” he said.

More than 2.390 billion shares, valued at P5.863 billion, changed hands. Decliners led advancers, 118 to 94, while 36 issues were unchanged. —VDS, GMA News