PSE index almost unchanged on lack of firm leads

By Denise A. Valdez, Senior Reporter

THE MAIN INDEX ended nearly unchanged on Monday as the lack of a strong catalyst kept investors on the sidelines.

The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) inched up 0.42 point or less than a percent to close at 5,909.32 at the start of the week. The broader all shares index trimmed 4.81 points or 0.13% to end at 3,548.77.

“Without any market-moving news, local market continued to move sideways on thin trade,” Aniceto K. Pangan, equity trader at Diversified Securities, Inc., said in a text message.

The PSEi opened Monday’s session at 5,913.6. It reached a peak of 5,925.31 minutes after the market opened then moved sideways for the rest of the session. It hit a low of 5,879.76 but picked up in the last hour of trading.

“Investors remain cautious despite improving economic activity,” AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in an email.

Tepid trading was evident in Monday’s value turnover, which stood at P4.27 billion with 2.13 billion issues switching hands. This is down from last Friday’s P7.64 billion with 767.34 million issues.

What drove most of Monday’s trading was news on second-line telco firms, Mr. Mangun said.

Many investors flocked to Now Corp. after it said it got authority from regulators to operate a nationwide mobile telco system. Shares in Now Corp. closed as the most active stock of the day with a gain of 49.79%.

Shares in DITO CME Holdings Corp. came in as the second most active stock, climbing 9.57% at the end of session.

Among PSEi members, Sy-led firms led the gainers: SM Prime Holdings, Inc. went up 3.39%; BDO Unibank, Inc. grew 1.24%; and SM Investments Corp. climbed 0.86%. This offset the losses of Ayala-led companies: Bank of the Philippines Islands (-1.98%), Ayala Land, Inc. (-1.61%) and Ayala Corp. (-0.28%).

Most sectoral indices ended the session in red territory. Mining and oil dropped 45.97 points or 0.75% to 6,014.71; services lost 9.65 points or 0.65% to 1,453.85; industrials shed 25.16 points or 0.32% to 7,819.81; financials slid 3.33 points or 0.28% to 1,151.24; and holding firms dipped 1.04 points or 0.01% to 6,142.65.

The sole gainer was property, which added 18.95 points or 0.69% to close at 2,762.20 at the end of Monday’s session.

Decliners outnumbered advancers, 138 against 58, while 42 names ended  Monday’s session unchanged.

Offshore investors became net sellers for the seventh straight day, tallying P551.85 million in net outflows on Monday, down from the last session’s P892.27 million.

Diversified Securities’ Mr. Pangan said market resistance may stay at 6,040 and support at 5,695.