Local stocks end lower as investors pocket gains

By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter

LOCAL SHARES ended lower on Monday as local investors turned sellers following last week’s surge in bargain hunters.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped 76.34 points or 1.01% to close at 7,430.86 yesterday, while the broader all shares index declined 39.43 points or 0.89% to 4,383.21.

“While the market ended with foreigners being net buyers, the index ended lower and market breadth was negative as investors took profits from last week’s four-day rally from 7,100 back up to 7,500 levels,” Timson Securities, Inc. Trader Darren T. Pangan said in a text message yesterday.

Mr. Pangan was referring to the continued rise in net foreign buying on Monday to reach P2.05 billion, up from last Friday’s net purchases worth P288.47 million.

Christopher John Mangun, research head at AAA Southeast Equities, Inc., said the massive foreign inflows mean the sellers yesterday were mostly onshore investors.

“Despite ending lower, we saw substantial foreign inflows which tells us that local investors were selling today,” Mr. Mangun said in an e-mail.

“Several third-liners hit their ceiling prices today as retail investors avoid blue-chips and try their luck with highly volatile stocks,” he added.

Mr. Mangun noted several blue chips lost more than 3% of their value yesterday. For example, BDO Unibank, Inc. (-3.47%), GT Capital Holdings, Inc. (-3.24%), Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (-3.45%), PLDT, Inc. (-3.48%) and JG Summit Holdings, Inc. (-3.25%) are some PSEi members that ended more than 3% lower yesterday.

Sectoral indices were mostly in red territory at Monday’s close. Mining and oil lost 251.95 points or 3.41% to 7,131.52; industrials shed 195.88 points or 2.08% to 9,195.80; financials declined 37.22 points or 2.07% to 1,753.87; services decreased 17.60 points or 1.17% to 1,485.27; and holding firms shaved off 36.50 points or 0.51% to 7,109.51.

The sole gaining index was property, which added 5.52 points or 0.13% to 4,042.32.

Value turnover stood at P8.68 billion yesterday with 1.67 billion issues switching hands, higher from last Friday’s P5.33 billion worth of 2.86 billion issues.

Decliners outpaced advancers, 120 against 77, with 45 names unchanged.

Yesterday also saw selling in stocks of ABS-CBN Corp. after the Office of the Solicitor General filed a quo warranto to nullify its congressional franchise. Shares in the company dropped 30 centavos or 1.76% to P16.70 apiece.

“Investors may become pessimistic of ABS-CBN shares although developments regarding the company’s status may affect its price over the short term, Timson Securities’ Mr. Pangan said.

“For the broader market, investors are yet again reminded of the regulatory risks facing some companies listed in the market,” he added.