Bourse falls further towards 8,000 on profit taking
By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
THE BOURSE ended lower for the third straight trading day on Tuesday, falling below the 8,000 mark for the first time in seven sessions before clawing back just above that line as investors went on another round of profit taking, opting for second-liners instead of blue chips.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) retreated 0.64% or 51.62 points to close at 8,009.92 yesterday, while the broader all-shares index dropped 0.69% or 34.07 points to 4,858.41.
“The PSEi continues to trade sideways as second-liners and speculative issues take the spotlight and are heavily traded by investors,” Eagle Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in an e-mail.
“The main index was barely able to hang on to the 8,000 key level after trading below it earlier in the day,” Mr. Mangun added.
“Blue chips remain in the back seat while we saw several speculative issues ended the day at their respective ceiling prices.”
Papa Securities Corp. Sales Associate Gabriel Jose F. Perez noted that the index succumbed to another round of profit taking, as investors looked for new catalysts to prop up sentiment. “With the PSEi already showing signs of weakness with its intraday dip below the 8,000 mark in the afternoon, watch out if the level will continue to hold for the rest of the week,” Mr. Perez said via e-mail.
Services were the lone sectoral index that eked out gains, adding 0.16% or 2.59 points to 1,604.70.
The rest declined: industrials by 1.24% or 144.27 points to 11,474.13; mining and oil by 0.93% or 80.36 points to 8,527.97; holding firms by 0.74% or 60.19 points to 7,982.35; property by 0.63% or 25.71 points to 4,006.39; and financials by 0.26% or 4.88 points to 1,828.19.
Some 2.74 billion shares worth P7.24 billion switched hands, compared to Monday’s 3.37 billion worth P6 billion.
Investors abroad remained predominantly bullish for the 18th straight session, driving net foreign buying up threefold to P260.34 million from Monday’s P82.14 million.
Stocks that dropped swamped those that gained, 124 to 86, while 46 others ended flat.
Tuesday’s list of 20 most active stocks showed those that lost narrowly outnumbering those that gained.
Those that ended with gains include Asiabest Group International, Inc. (up 9.35%); Alliance Global Group, Inc. (up 2.44%); International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (up 1.92%) and Wilcon Depot, Inc. (up 1.78%). “Overseas funds picked up ICTSI (P348-million net foreign buying) the most as the counter benefited from a 1.52% upweight in the MSCI Philippines index,” RCBC Securities, Inc. said in a Stock Market Daily Recap attributed to analyst Fiorenzo D. de Jesus.
Those that lost included Xurpas, Inc. (down 11.74%); Premiere Horizon Alliance Corp. (down 4.76%); GT Capital Holdings, Inc. (down 1.83%); and SM Investments Corp. (down 1.4%).
