LOCAL STOCKS slipped on Friday as traders took profits after climbing for two consecutive days.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 37.56 points or 0.48% to close at 7,766.47. The broader all-share index was also down by 3.76 points or 0.08% to reach 4,728.82.
“Profit-taking was the name of the game as the index remained weak the entire day, falling by as much as 85 points to its intraday low. It was however bought up at the close to end only 37 points down at 7,766.47,” Gabriel Jose F. Perez, sales associate at Papa Securities Corp. said an email.
For PNB Securities Inc. President Manuel Antonio G. Lisbona, “The market is undergoing a technical correction given the rally yesterday.”
Mr. Lisbona noted the PSEi will continue to move within the range 7,500 and 7,850, as market players “continues to digest and react to both internal factors (rising rates and inflation) and external events (risk of contagion arising from US trade actions against China and Turkey).”
“A possible catalyst to the upside will be a sustained return of foreign funds into the market. However, I think this scenario is unlikely as other markets offer more value at this time,” he added.
Only the holding firms counter went up, rising 0.21% or 15.94 points to close at 7,608.68.
On the other hand, industrials led losers with a 50.10-point decrease or 0.44% to 11,265.81, followed by property which fell 37.16 points or 0.94% to 3,905.10.
The financials sub-index also slipped by 25.97 points or 1.42% to 1,797.06; while services shed 9.30 points or 0.60% to 1,546.34, and mining and oil dropped 2.55 points or 0.03% to 9,836.81.
Value turnover fell to P7.21 billion on Friday, from Thursday’s P7.97 billion as 2.27 billion issues changed hands.
Foreigners dumped shares, with net selling logged at P398.89 million, a reversal from Thursday’s net buying of P514.21 million.
Losers outnumbered advancers, 122 to 76, while 54 issues were unchanged. — V.M.P.Galang

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