Stocks down in cautious trade

Philippine stocks were off to a rough start, closing Monday in the red as investors stayed cautious ahead of second-quarter corporate results due for release in the coming weeks and renewed conflict between Israel and Palestine, a stockbroker said.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was down 1.02 percent, or 70.72 points, to 6,830.37 while the broader all-shares index dipped 0.82 percent, or 33.87 points, to 4,102.63. Trading volume was relatively light.

All subsectors closed in the red, led by property and holding companies, down 1.33 percent and 1.21 percent, respectively.

“These companies helped push the market higher so they were really ripe for a correction,” First Grade Finance Inc. managing director Astro del Castillo said in an interview Monday.

Del Castillo noted that investors chose to stay on the sidelines given that the next major driver, corporate earnings, would still be released toward the end of July.

“Overseas, the brewing issue on Israel and Palestine could reverberate throughout the global markets,” Del Castillo said.

Increased risk aversion among investors means they would rather “play it safe” in the meantime, he said.

Indeed, Monday’s results showed a total of 117 firms declining against 51 advancers while 58 companies closed unchanged. A total of 2.14 billion shares changed hands for P5.23 billion. Miguel R. Camus