Stocks end lower

MANILA, Philippines–President Aquino’s visit to the stock exchange on Tuesday failed to lift sentiment as the main index slid while stocks across the region ended mixed due to profit-taking.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was down 0.21 percent, or 16.76 points, to 8,056.49. The broader all-shares index also lost 0.23 percent, or 10.84 points, to 4,605.92.

The decline came as President Aquino announced that he hoped to return to the trading floor when it hits the “9,000 and 10,000” level before he steps down in the middle of 2016.

Even then, volume was relatively weak on Tuesday, with about 1.16 billion shares valued at P8.42 billion changing hands. A total of 105 companies closed in the red, while 67 gained and another 44 closed unchanged. Only the holding firms subindex rose by 0.08 percent while mining and oil led losers as it declined 2.39 percent.

Ayala Corp. led the list of most actively traded stocks as it sank 0.19 percent, or P1.50 a share, to P798.50. This was followed by Ayala Land, unchanged at P40.60; Megaworld Corp., down 3.51 percent to P5.50; Metrobank, up 0.15 percent to P99, and GT Capital Holdings, up 1.93 percent to P1,370. Miguel R. Camus