PSEi dips as window-dressing ends

MANILA, Philippines — Local stocks dipped on Monday, defying the regional upswing brought about by better factory output data out of China.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index gave up 13.37 points or 0.22 percent to close at 6,061.80 in mixed trade.

A big fund manager said after some month-end window-dressing last week, there would naturally be some profit-taking afterwards.

There were 66 advancers which were outnumbered by 77 decliners while 44 stocks were unchanged. Value turnover amounted to P6.3 billion.

The day’s index biggest laggers were ICTSI (-5.26 percent) and RLC (-3.85 percent) while ALI, AEV, MPI and AC all shed over 2 percent. Belle, BDO and Bloomberry also declined by over 1 percent.

On the other hand, the day’s decline was tempered by the increase in the share prices of SMIC (+5.22 percent), which has been battered in the last few weeks due to the reduction in its weight in the MSCI index. Meralco was likewise up by 3.46 percent despite an upcoming exclusion from the PSEi.

AGI and SMC gained by over 2 percent while FGEN, AP and JG Summit were up by over 1 percent. Jollibee and SM Prime likewise edged higher.

General direction for this week is mostly anticipated to be on the upside as local investors start to scout for bargains and as the so-called “ghost month” ends in the middle of the week.

Across the region, stock markets mostly gained on reports that China’s PMI or purchasing managers’ index, an advance gauge of manufacturing output, jumped more than the expected 51 in August from 50.3 in July.

Investment bank BofA Merrill Lynch said: “it should bolster markets’ confidence in China’s recovery amid the turmoil of some emerging markets which have been severely hit by capital flight.” It said the rise of the official PMI was mainly driven by “new orders” including the “new export orders,” “suggesting the ongoing sequential recovery starts to be driven by external demand even though domestic demand is still the main driving force.”