PSEi stays afloat just shy of 7,200 level

MANILA, Philippines–The local stock market on Wednesday took a breather as investors factored in slower-than-expected PLDT earnings, but the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) managed to stay afloat just shy of 7,200.

The PSEi slipped by 13.2 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 7,208.81.

The index fell to as low as 7,176.13 in intraday day but pared down losses as a strong performance by BDO, which surged by 5.86 percent, partly made up for the slump in PLDT.

Index heavyweight PLDT was the day’s most actively traded company, while BDO was the second most heavily traded.

By counter, the services (-2.23 percent) and mining/oil (-1.06 percent) subindices weighed down the PSEi, while the industrial counter was marginally lower.

On the other hand, the financial index went up by 1.36 percent on the back of BDO’s gains. Dealers said BDO’s rise may be due to strong third quarter earnings results. Others speculate about a potential increase in MSCI weight.

Following a slower than expected third quarter earnings, investors have sold down PLDT shares in the last two days following a reduction in internal full-year earnings guidance.

JG Summit, which fell by 1.75 percent, also weighed down the index, alongside URC, ALI, Metrobank, Megaworld and AP.

On the other hand, AC and SM Prime helped temper the day’s losses, along with SMIC and EDC.

One notable gainer outside of PSEi stocks was Puregold (+4.18 percent), which announced strong third-quarter results, bouncing from a sluggish first semester.

Value turnover for the day amounted to P9.08 billion. There were 87 decliners against 86 advancers, while 54 stocks were unchanged.–Doris C. Dumlao