By Arra B. Francia, Senior Reporter

SHARES DROPPED on Monday as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the president’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) retreated 0.28% or 23.24 points to end at 8,246.83, paring losses at the market’s close despite dropping by as much as 1.5% to tread the 8,100 mark intraday.

The broader all-shares index likewise fell 0.32% or 16.04 points to finish at 4,994.67.

“The market remained flat as investors wait for the catalyst on SONA and earnings season for companies,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Associate Piper Chaucer E. Tan said in a text message.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte delivered his fourth SONA on Monday, where he reported the accomplishments during his first three years in office.

Mr. Tan, however, noted that this may be an accumulation phase for the PSEi as investors resort to profit taking following two straight weeks of gains.

“From a technical standpoint, the PSEi looks extremely attractive and with the recovery that we saw today after a massive sell off in early trading, investors are starting to take this rally seriously,” AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in an e-mail.

“Trading in blue chips continues to pick up and this may be the trend in the market for the next few weeks.”

The counter for holding firms was the lone sub-index that ended with gains, adding 0.1% or 8.48 points to 7,951.40. The rest declined, led by property which lost 0.85% or 37.97 points to 4,385.60. Mining and oil plunged 0.59% or 48.45 points to 8,077.82; services shed 0.6% or 10.09 points to 1,671.62; financials went down 0.07% or 1.46 points to 1,875.82; while industrials slipped 0.39 point to 11,704.31.

Some 862.56 million shares valued at P5.99 billion switched hands, lower than the previous session’s P6.74-billion turnover.

Decliners outpaced advancers, 103 to 80, while 61 names were unchanged.

Net foreign inflows dipped to P631.99 million, compared to Friday’s P759.81 million.

The PSEi tracked the negative sentiment seen in Wall Street last Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average went down 0.25% or 68.77 points to close at 27,154.20. The S&P 500 index shed 0.62% or 18.50 points to 2,976.61, while the Nasdaq Composite index declined 0.74% or 60.75 points to 8,146.49.

Most Southeast Asian stock markets also started the week on the backfoot as investors pulled money out of risky assets due to reduced odds of a double-barrelled US interest rate cut later this month.

Equities worldwide benefited last week from New York Fed President’s dovish comments that hinted at a half-point rate cut this month, but hopes were thwarted when his speech was recanted and qualified as “academic” rather than a policy suggestion. — with Reuters

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