The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange fell by 8.94 points, or 0.2 percent, to finish at 4,366.45, weighed down by the decline in PLDT, which went on an ex-dividend. This meant that there was a rush for those who wanted to get dividend payments to load up PLDT on Tuesday, some of which unloaded on Wednesday.
Joseph Roxas, president of Eagle Equities Inc., said the local market was anticipating a downturn in US stocks Wednesday night and also pointed out the sluggish trading across the region.
Overnight, US stocks posted sharp gains on hopes that the US Federal Reserve would adopt more measures to stimulate the economy. However, the futures index indicated a potential slide of about 80 basis points in the Dow Jones Industrial Index in the next session.
Roxas said Moody’s downgrade of Japan’s credit rating wasn’t much of a factor during Wednesday’s stock market trades.
“The market was a mixed bag today with the index closing down; meanwhile, the number of gainers still outpaced losers,” DA Market Securities noted in its market wrap-up.
The brokerage noted that the market was weighed down by PLDT’s 3.21 percent decline equivalent to its dividend of P78 as the telco went on ex-cash.
“With global economic uncertainty ahead, we look forward to developments in terms of fiscal policy in the advanced economies. It would be more prudent to stay on the sidelines as the real score unravels. At the same time, it is also recommended to keep a watchful eye on bargain levels for favored stocks,” DA Market Securities said.
Because of PLDT’s decline, the services counter fell by 2.2 percent. All other counters firmed up. PLDT has a 13.75 percent weight on the PSEi, the single biggest among blue chips.
Despite the overall index decline, there were 80 advancers against 63 decliners while 44 stocks were unchanged.
Turnover was extraordinary at P18.2 billion as San Miguel Corp. crossed about P13 billion shares in Manila Electric Co. that it had sold to subsidiary San Miguel Pure Foods at P220 per share.
There was a foreign net selling of P270 million for the day.
Apart from PLDT, the index was also burdened by declines in the share prices of ICTSI, Metro Pacific Investments, Philex, DMCI and AGI. There was also profit-taking on non-index stock ORE.
On the other hand, Lepanto “A” and “B” (particularly A, which is only for local investors) continued to rise. EDC, Manila Mining A and B, Boulevard, BDO, Ni Hao, San Miguel Corp., Aboitiz Power, Metrobank and Security Bank also gained in heavy trade.