Philippine shares closed flattish on Thursday as activity remained tepid with minimal volatility. 

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slid 3.10 points or 0.05% to close at 5,943.52, while the broader all shares index slipped 3.18 points or 0.08% to end at 3,562.63.

The PSEi opened at 5,946.05 which was already its high for the day. It dipped to a low of 5,886.33 but recovered in the last hour of trading.

“Local shares finished flat ahead of the FTSE rebalancing and after the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) policy outlook,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile message.

“The PSEi was generally muted post the press conference by the Fed Chairman that rate will stay low till 2023 but he struggled to address the large balance sheet risk,” he added.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday vowed to keep interest rates near zero until inflation is on track to overshoot the US central bank’s 2% target, a bold new promise aimed at bringing millions of out-of-work Americans back to the labor market, Reuters reported.

US stocks ended mixed on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index gained 0.13%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices fell 0.46% and 1.25%, respectively. Most Asian stocks were in red territory when the local market closed.

“The (PSEi) continues to hover around the 6,000 level as volatility remains minimal. Investors continue to take a cautious stance on equities while monitoring the pace of the economy’s recovery,” AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in an email.

He noted gains in Ayala-led large cap issues Ayala Corp. (+2.44%) and Bank of the Philippine Islands (+2.10%) and grocery operator Puregold Price Club, Inc. (+3.04%) were offset by losses in index heavyweight SM Investments Corp. (-0.55%).

“We firmly believe that the market is on a path higher as long as economic activity continues to pick up and we do not see any unpleasant surprises,” Mr. Mangun added. 

Most sectoral indices ended Thursday’s session in red territory. Mining and oil dropped 81.23 points or 1.32% to 6,054.77; industrials fell 34.83 points or 0.44% to 7,856.18; holding firms lost 16.37 points or 0.26% to 6,213.96; and property shed 7.29 points or 0.26% to 2,772.19.

On the other hand, services gained 8.01 points or 0.55% to 1,462.48, and financials added 4.72 points or 0.41% to 1,145.78 at the close of trading.

Value turnover on Thursday stood at P6.01 billion with 952.32 million issues switching hands, up from the previous day’s P5.36 billion with 652.4 million issues.

Decliners bested advancers, 106 against 78, while 58 names ended unchanged.

Net foreign selling reached P1.17 billion on Thursday, growing from the previous day’s P843.92 million. — Denise A. Valdez with Reuters

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