PSEi ends flat on weak earnings, Trump remarks
THE local barometer was flat on Wednesday as companies reported less than stellar earnings results for the second quarter, also weighed down by negative sentiment following US President Donald J. Trump’s pronouncements about North Korea.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index failed to sustain early gains as it closed yesterday’s session with a decrease of 0.68 point to 7,985.83.
The all-shares index also shed 11.51 points or 0.24% to end at 4,723.13.
“For most of the trading day, we were down because of uncertainty in the market. Also there’s a disappointing second-quarter earnings results, so consumer earnings are down, that’s the sentiments for the market,” UPCC Securities Corp. equity trader Aristotle D. Reyes, Jr. said by phone.
Mr. Reyes also noted the brewing tensions between North Korea and the US, which had a “chilling effect” on the market, pushing investors back to the sidelines.
US stocks closed lower on Tuesday after a late afternoon selling spree as investors fled for safety after Mr. Trump said North Korea “will be met with fire and fury” like the world has never seen if it threatens the United States.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 33.08 points or 0.15% at 22,085.34, snapping a 9-day streak of closing records. The S&P 500 lost 5.99 points or 0.24% to close at 2,474.92 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 13.31 points or 0.21% to 6,370.46.
“The market, for the last few weeks, already has been trading sideways because it seems that there’s no substantial news that can break the 8,100… In the medium term, we’ll continue to consolidate, waiting for further developments,” Summit Securities, Inc. President Harry G. Liu said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
The holding firms counter was the lone advancer among six sectoral indices, gaining 40.95 points or 0.51% to close at 7,948.72.
The services sector led losers with a decline of 1.22% or 20.52 points to 1,655.82, followed by industrials which dropped 86.62 points or 0.78% to 10,925.85. Financials dipped 0.53% or 10.76 points to 1,985.97; mining and oil slid 0.51% or 66.20 points to 12,711.06; while the property sector barely moved at 3,777.73, losing just 0.25 point.
A total of 1.16 billion issues changed hands for a value turnover of P6.93 billion, lower than the previous trading day’s P8.57 billion.
Decliners trumped advancers, 133 to 66, while 45 issues were unchanged.
Newly listed Chelsea Logistics Holding, Corp. was the most actively traded stock of the day, extending Tuesday’s loss as it dropped 4.92% or 52 centavos to P10.04. Food and plastics firm D&L Industries and International Container Terminal Services, Inc. followed, also posting declines after releasing their first- half results on Tuesday.
The market recorded a net foreign buying position of P342.71 million, slightly lower than Tuesday’s net inflow of P459.16 million. — Arra B. Francia with Reuters
