Local shares opened the week in negative territory as caution held back investor activity amid both external and domestic pressures.
A research manager said the local currency’s weakness against the US also weighed on sentiment.
Attractive valuations may draw selective accumulation ahead of confidence-boosting catalysts, a brokerage official said.
But for now, “Cautious sentiment persisted, with both external and internal pressures weighing on trades,” Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital and Development Corp., said.
The benchmark PSEi fell 0.85 percent, or 51.78 points, to 6,057.43, while the broader All Shares slipped 0.41 percent, or 15.02 points, to 3,670.57.
Losers outnumbered gainers 117 to 84 with 53 unchanged. Trading reached P6.2 billion on 76,405 transactions involving 3.48 billion shares.
Foreign investors sold a net P473.35 million, with P2.87 billion in purchases against P3.43 billion in sales.
Japhet Tantiangco, research manager at Philstocks Financial Inc., said the peso’s weakness against the dollar dampened sentiment.
The local currency closed at 57.181 to the dollar, weaker than Friday’s 57.10, after trading between 57.16 and 57.38 on $1.52 billion turnover.
