PSEi falls as volume thins ahead of year’s close

By Vincent Mariel P. Galang, Reporter

PHILIPPINE SHARES failed to sustain their gains on Thursday as investors anticipate little market activity as the year comes to an end.

The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell 30.32 points or 0.38% to close at 7,842.28 on Thursday, while the broader all shares index declined 2.13 points or 0.04% to end at 4,643.20.

“It was a slow trading day for the market today as the market came from the Christmas holidays and also anticipated the coming long weekend for the new year,” Papa Securities Corp. Sales Associate Gabriel Jose F. Perez said in an e-mail on Thursday.

He said the index even fell as much as 99 points, but was able to recover by about 30 points on Thursday.

“The 7,900 mark still remains to be the level to beat for the last day of the year where the 200-day MA (moving average) resistance lies. Potential year-end window dressing could push us past this mark and into the 8,000-territory,” he added.

He noted that the most active stock yesterday was Manila Water Co., Inc., which went up 1.53 points or 17.85% to close P10.10 each, adding that it had the second highest turnover on Thursday with P471 million, after SM Investments Corp.’s P567 million.

For Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan, the main index reflected the “muted Christmas Even trading in the US and little market activity right before the last trading session of the year.”

On Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial fell 36.08 points or 0.13% to 28,515.45, the S&P 500 index fell 0.63 points or 0.02% to 3,223.38, while the Nasdaq Composite increased 7.24 points or 0.08% to 8,952.88.

For Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 142.05 points or 0.60% to 23,924.92; Kospi Index increased 7.85 points or 0.36% to 2,197.93; HongKong’s Hang Seng index fell 42.20 points or 0.15% to 27,864.21; and Shanghai Composite gained 25.47 points or 0.85% to 3,007.35.

Back home, all sub-sectors fell except mining and oil, which gained 172.53 points or 2.19% to close at 8,027.93 and financials, which was up 11.37 points or 0.61% to end at 1,860.71.

Meanwhile, property fell 50.39 points or 1.19% to end at 4,157.52; holding firms decreased 27.30 points or 0.35% to close 7,653.77; industrials dropped 30.48 points or 0.31% to 9,623.84; and services gave up 3.72 points or 0.24% to 1,527.97.

Value turnover on Thursday stood at P3.60 billion with 911.47 million shares changing hands, down from Monday’s P8.30 billion.

Stocks that gained outnumbered those that fell, 105 to 81, while 50 issues closed unchanged.

Net foreign buying totalled P143.38 million yesterday, a turnaround from the previous session’s net outflows worth P1.22 billion.