The local stock barometer started the week on a sluggish note as foreigners continued to dump local equities.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 40.15 points or 0.51 percent to close at 7,779.07 on Monday, weighed down by about P2.17 billion worth of net foreign selling.

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“Most Asian equity markets ended lower (Monday) on the back of comments from US President Trump over the weekend, on the possibility of delisting Chinese firms from US stock markets. The move is seen to limit investments from the US to China,” AAA Equities head of research Chris Mangun said in a research note.

Value turnover was heavy at P12.93 billion, boosted by P7.3 billion worth of shares of integrated gaming firm Travellers that were crossed following a tender offer to minority shareholders.

At the same time, Mangun said some investors repositioned themselves as it was the last day of trading for the third quarter.

“However, the market is looking weaker and weaker by the day. The next major support level is at 7,750 and whether this level is going to hold is the big question. Foreign investors continue to run for the hills and local investors are just not that interested in picking up companies at current low prices,” he said.

The PSEi was weighed down most by the holding firm and services counters, which fell by more than 1 percent.

On the other hand, the financial, industrial, mining/oil and property counters firmed up slightly.

There were 125 decliners that edged out 71 advancers while 52 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was weighed down most by Bloomberry, which tumbled by 3.89 percent on news of a costly arbitration award given to to the Solaire management firm that it ousted in 2013.

Puregold also fell by 3.34 percent while SM investments and Megaworld both lost more than 2 percent.

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ICTSI, BDO Unobank, JG Summit and Aboitiz Power both lost more than 1 percent while Ayala Corp. and URC also slipped.

On the other hand, Metrobank gained 2.24 percent while SM Prime and Meralco rose by nearly 2 percent.

Ayala Land, Jollibee, PLDT and GT Capital also gained.

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