Profit taking, weak peso drag PSEi to 6,800 level
PHILIPPINE STOCKS declined to the 6,800 level on Thursday as investors booked profits after the market’s four-day rally and as the peso weakened to P59 against the dollar.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped 1.61% or 112.62 points to 6,863.01. The broader all-share index shed 0.98% or 38.02 points to 3,809.39.
The PSEi traded as high as 6,919.57 before dropping to the 6,800 level before the bell rang.
“The local market pulled back from its preceding four-day rally this Thursday as investors took profits. The peso’s weakness against the dollar weighed on the bourse,” Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, a senior research analyst at Philstocks Financial, Inc., said in a Viber message.
The peso closed at P59 a dollar, weakening by nine centavos from its P58.91 close on Wednesday. It was the first time that the peso returned to the P59-a-dollar level since Oct. 17, 2022.
“Philippine shares finally succumbed to profit taking after successive sessions in the green, while Wall Street closed mixed as concerns over Nvidia’s earnings and escalating political tensions weighed on investor sentiment,” Luis A. Limlingan, head of sales at Regina Capital Development Corp., said in a Viber message.
Wall Street had a mixed result on Nov. 20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index gained 0.32% or 139.53 points to 43,408.47; while the S&P 500 index added 0.0022% or 0.13 point to 5,917.11. The Nasdaq Composite index lost 0.11% or 21.33 points to 18,966.14.
Almost all of the market’s sectoral indexes closed lower. Holding firms lost 2.83% or 167.73 points to 5,758.98, while property declined 2.18% or 58.26 points to 2,603.25.
The industrial index fell 1.17% or 113.16 points to 9,497.64, while financials went down 1.13% or 26.17 points to 2,288.87. Mining and oil retreated 0.74% or 57.14 points to 7,656.05.
The service index bucked the trend, gaining 0.7% or 14.93 points to 2,135.50.
Value turnover grew to P5.64 billion covering 1.37 billion shares from P5.38 billion covering 731.77 million stocks on Wednesday.
Losers beat winners 111 to 86, while 57 stocks were unchanged.
Net foreign selling reached P480,563.13, a turnaround from the P82.21 million of net foreign buying on Wednesday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
