PSEi softens as market digests election results

Philippine share prices opened on a soft note Tuesday, as the market tries to digest the partial and unofficial tally of the May 9 national and local elections.

As of 10:32 a.m., the main PSEi was down by 22.76 points or 0.33 percent at 6,969.11. The All Shares eased by 9.54 points lower or 0.23 percent at 4,153.52.

"The market is just waiting for the final results, but as of this morning the possible elected President Duterte and Vice President Leni seems very acceptable for now for our stock market," said Harry G. Liu, president of the brokerage firm Summit Securities Inc.

"We should see a stable market... We'll be watching for the appointed secretaries of Duterte... Then we can see market positive direction," Liu noted.

As of 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Duterte was way ahead of his opponents in the presidential race, according to partial and unofficial results from the transparency server of the Commission on Elections.

Duterte has so far garnered 15,245,930 votes, followed by administration Manuel "Mar" Roxas II with 9,183,938.

Another analyst noted that the market seemed to have accepted the partial results of the election and will be closely watching how Duterte would fill his Cabinet.

"Institutional investors would like to first see the people or Cabinet officials the next President will put in place to make a better assessment," the analyst noted.

"We think that the market is hesitant at this point, given how close the vice presidential race is," he added.

Vice-presidential candidates Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo and Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. were neck and neck, with Robredo currently leading with 13,341,232 votes compared with Marcos' 13,178,696. – VDS, GMA News