PSE index down on profit taking after 3-day climb

THE MAIN INDEX ended lower on Wednesday as investors pocketed their gains from the market’s three-day climb that saw the stock benchmark hit multi-month highs.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) went down by 0.4% or 25.82 points to end at 6,292.09. Meanwhile, the broader all shares index increased by 0.16% or 5.84 points to 3,594.19.

“Philippine equities took a breather following a three-day rally as the market took profits despite the friendly unemployment rate print,” AP Securities, Inc. said in a market note.

The Philippines’ unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in November from 3.2% a year earlier, according to the preliminary results of the labor force survey released on Wednesday. However, this was lower than 5% in October.

This translated to about 2.25 million jobless Filipinos, compared with 1.66 million in November 2024 and 2.54 million in the previous month.

“The PSEi pressed the brakes, slipping into the red, marking its first decline for the week as profit taking set in across sectors following recent gains,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

“In contrast, Wall Street accelerated higher on Tuesday, with major indices climbing to fresh record highs as investors largely looked past recent US-Venezuela tensions, which were seen to have a limited impact on oil markets,” he said.

Major stock indexes including the Dow Jones Industrial Average and European shares rose to record highs on Tuesday, while the dollar edged higher as investors focused on key market data this week that could help gauge the outlook for US Federal Reserve policy, Reuters reported.

On Wall Street, chip stocks rose on renewed artificial intelligence optimism.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 484.90 points or 0.99% to 49,462.08; the S&P 500 rose 42.77 points or 0.62% to 6,944.82; and the Nasdaq Composite rose 151.35 points or 0.65% to 23,547.17.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe was last up 7.13 points or 0.69% at 1,035.15 and reached a record high during the session.

Back home, four of six sectoral indices closed in the red. Services sank by 1.29% or 32.09 points to 2,455.90; holding firms dropped by 0.34% or 17.31 points to 4,957.39; financials fell by 0.32% or 7.00 points to 2,144.35; and property went down by 0.11% or 2.59 points to 2,310.06.

Meanwhile, mining and oil advanced by 0.8% or 130.96 points to 16,389.92, and industrials climbed by 0.62% or 56.77 points to 9,117.37.

Decliners outnumbered advancers, 107 to 101, while 68 names closed unchanged.

Value turnover went down to P7.29 billion on Wednesday with 772.34 million shares traded from the P8.31 billion with 1.34 billion issues dealt on Tuesday.

Net foreign buying dropped to P201.88 million from P1.25 billion. — Alexandria Grace C. Magno with Reuters