By Arra B. Francia, Reporter

LOCAL STOCKS dropped on Wednesday, tracking the generally negative close of international markets.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gave up 0.18% or 16.14 points to finish at 8,848.99 yesterday.

The all-shares index also shed 0.11% or 5.78 points to 5,121.47.

“Philippine market followed the trajectory of its regional counterparts before closing in a weak fashion. A negative finish was expected due to Wall Street’s leads, with the market taking a breather after outstanding performances this whole month,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile phone message.

Resumption of trading in American markets following its break for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday ended mostly on a negative note, with analysts predicting volatile trading days ahead.

Wall Street paused its rally on Tuesday, weighed down by weakness in General Electric shares and as lower oil prices dragged down the energy sector.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 10.33 points or 0.04% to 25,792.86; the S&P 500 lost 9.82 points or 0.35% to 2,776.42; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 37.38 points or 0.51% to 7,223.69.

“It was more of a profit taking, considering most regional markets were down. It’s just been 10 days of trading session, and we’re already up by around 300 points. It’s just right for investors to go on profit taking,” Diversified Securities, Inc. equities trader Aniceto K. Pangan said in a phone interview.

Most Southeast Asian stock markets were muted on Wednesday in line with broader Asia as Wall Street took a breather after its record-setting run, dampening momentum in global equities.

Sectoral counters were split between gainers and losers. Financials saw the largest decline at 2,247.32, lower by 1.88% or 43.16. This was pulled down by the performance of Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. stocks, which lost P8.30 or 7.76% to end at P98.70 following its disclosure of a stock rights offering to fund its acquisition of the remaining shares of Metrobank Card Corp.

Property followed with a decrease of 0.54% or 21.96 points to 4,032.30, while mining and oil shed 0.39% or 47.99 points to 12,135.17.

On the other hand, services gained 0.61% or 10.08 points to 1,638.75; holding firms added 0.54% or 49.06 points to 9,095.54; and industrials climbed 0.35% or 41.73 points to 11,809.72.

With 942.72 million issues changing hands, volume was valued at P9.64 billion yesterday, rising from Tuesday’s turnover of P7.41 billion.

Decliners trumped advancers, 120 to 92, while 49 names were unchanged.

Foreign investors continued their buying spree for the fourth day, logging P1.26 billion in net purchases yesterday from P698.79 million on Tuesday. — with Reuters

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