SHARES barely moved on Wednesday, tracking muted trading overseas but remaining on the upside following slower inflation data for May.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) eked out gains of 0.04% or 3.38 points to finish at 7,689.14, staying mostly flat within the entire session. The broader all-shares index also picked up 0.10% or 4.99 points to 4,669.28.
“The Philippines traded quietly, slightly above on a more optimistic note,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile message.
Inflation stood at 4.6% in May, outpacing April’s 4.5% to record another five-year high. However, this is slower than the 4.9% estimate by the Department of Finance, and sat at the lower end of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’s own estimate of 4.6% to 5.4%.
“While the sequential pace of price increases moderated due to an easing in food prices, headline inflation remains meaningfully above the upper end of the BSP’s inflation target. This was also taken as positive today as signs of normalizing continued,” Mr. Limlingan said.
Trading was also muted overseas due to lack of fresh leads. The Dow Jones Industrial Average went down 0.06% or 13.71 points to 24,799.98. The S&P 500 index added 0.07% or 1.93 points to 2,748.90, while the Nasdaq Composite index gained 0.41% or 31.40 points to 7,637.86.
Most Asian markets closed higher on Wednesday ahead of G7 meeting in Canada, which involves the leaders of the United States, Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Anticipation for the meeting further overshadowed lingering concerns on the trade war between the US and China.
Back home, four sectoral indices stayed in positive territory, while two ended with losses.
The property counter climbed 0.46% or 17.65 points to 3,819.67, followed by financials that rose 0.37% or 6.99 points to 1,894.76. Industrials added 0.25% or 26.97 points to 10,783.23, while services went up 0.21% or 3.19 points to 1,505.81.
Meanwhile, holding firms shed 0.32% or 24.90 points to 7,626.05, while mining and oil lost 0.06% or 6.78 points to 10,145.75.
Some 1.51 billion issues switched hands for a value turnover of P5.94 billion, slightly higher than the P5.41-billion turnover seen on Tuesday.
Advancers outpaced decliners, 108 to 97, while 43 issues remained unchanged.
Net foreign selling thinned to P14.08 million Wednesday, June 6, from the P673.32 million in net sales recorded in the previous session. This marks the 16th straight day of net foreign outflows for the local index.
Shares in Ayala Land, Inc. were the most actively traded for the day, inching up 1.49% to P40.90 each. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. followed with a 0.06% climb to P80.05 each, while SM Prime Holdings, Inc. trailed with a 0.13% increase to P38.05 apiece. — Arra B. Francia

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